Vol. VIII. No. 198. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



375 



It is not necessary to believe that the diverse character- 

 istics that appear in the new place come into the plants from 

 the external environment, or that they represent direct eti'ects 

 of the environment upon the plants. It is more reasonable 

 to suppose that new conditions induce diversity in an indirect 

 manner by disturbing the processes of heredity, and thus 

 allowing ancestral characters that had been transmitted in 

 latent form to return to expression, or characters previously 

 expressed to become latent. Recurrence of diversity may be 

 quite independent of hybridization, although some of the 

 results are very similar. 



The phenomenon of local adjustment only strengthens 

 the many other evidencies that the uniformity of a variety 

 of cultivated plants can be maintained only by persistent and 

 vigilant selection. The decrease in the agricultural value of 

 a variety that results from a return to diversity is as real 

 and important as the agricultural improvement that is made 

 when diversity is reduced by selection. 



The facts of local adjustment go far to explain the 

 apparently capricious behaviour of cotton varieties in com- 

 parative tests, the .same varieties often standing in entirely 

 different relations to one another in different season.s. It 

 becomes evident that the adaptation of a variety to a new 

 place cannot be fairly tested in a single season. Not until 

 a new stock has passed through the process of local adjust- 

 ment and returned to a normal degree of uniformity can 

 the extent of its adaptftion to the new place be definitely 

 ascertained. 



The facts of local adjustment indicate that our superior 

 varieties may be found adapted to much wider regions than 

 they now occupy. Varieties of real value should have their 

 range extended through local adjustment, instead of being 

 discarded bec^iuse they fail to show their superiority in the 

 first season. The wider extension of a few superior types of 

 cotton would make it possible to abandon many local varieties, 

 and would constitute an important step in the progress of the 

 cotton industry. Greater uniformity in the crop over large 

 areas would increase its commercial value, and sinij)lify com- 

 mercial problems of grading and marketing. 



THE PERINI FIBRE PLANT. 



In the Agricultural Nnvs, Vol. VIII, p. 2.'i5, an 

 account of the inanstrial importance of the Perini fibre 

 plant appeared. The Kciv BuUefin, No. 8 (1907) 

 p. 338, gives the following information concerning the 

 plant, under the name ' Canhamo Braziliensis Perini'. 

 iHibisciis rci'liatus, Sims) : — 



CANHAMO BKAZILIENSIS PERINI. — The Board of Trade 

 Journal for September 7, 1 905, records the receipt by the 

 Board of a pamphlet describing, under this name, a Brazilian 

 fibre plant, together with a sample of its fibre, forwarded by 

 H. B. M. Consul at Rio de .laneiro. Sub-sequently Messrs. 

 Knight, Harrison A- Co., of Rio de .laneiro kindly forwarded 

 to Kew copies of this pamphlet, which was written by 

 Dr. V. A. de Perini for the Brazil inn Review in 190.0, and 

 is entitled ' Canhamo Braziliensi.= I'erini or Brazilian Linen'; 

 with these were sent samples of the fibre and of cloth woven 

 from it in Italj-. 



The pamphlet states that the plant was discovered by 

 Dr. de Perini in the northern part of the province of ]\Iinas 

 Geraes at about 1,000 feet above sea-level. The writer 

 of the pamphlet claims that the plant po.ssesses the qualities 

 of European hemp or flax; that it is quite hardy both in the 

 dry and in the rainy season; tbat it thrives alike in dry and 

 in wet soil; and that it dees not .snffer from insect attacks or 



from mild«w. Xo care or special cidtivation is needed; a crop 

 can be gathered three months after sowing: and three crops 

 can be harvested in one year. The fibre po.ssesses the 

 desirable (jualities of strength, fineness, flexibility, and 

 adaptability for bleaching or dyeing. From it a fabric can 

 be prepared which is equal to European linen; this so far has 

 not been possible in America. 



From the illustrations given in the pamphlet referred to 

 and from a comparison of the fibre with the material in the 

 museum at Kew, it was clear that the plant under discussion 

 is a I/il,isciis (Malvaceae), nearly allied to //. ntnnahinvs, 

 Linn., which is widely grown in most warm countries, and is 

 best known as the source of Deccan or Ambari llcmp, the 

 fibre of which has been exported to England from India for 

 over a century. The difierences, however, were such as to 

 indicate that the Brazilian plant is probably not exactly 

 JI. cnnnaliimis. 



In April, 1907, specimens of the dried plant and of its 

 seeds were received from the Board of Trade. Plants have 

 been raised from the seeds, and from these it has been 

 possible to ascertain that the species is nUiisoLs radiutns, 

 Sims, not of Benth., doubtfully of Cav. 



The Ki'ii' Biillcll II also gives an abstract from the 

 Board (if Tnule Joarnid, February 28, 1007, which 

 shows that the Brazilian Government has subsidized 

 the industry of the preparation of fibre from this plant, 

 and that Dr. Perini was forming a limited liability 

 company for its exploitation. 



Seeds of the Perini fibre plant have been received 

 from Kew by the Imperial Department of Agriculture, 

 and are being distributed for trial among the Botanic 

 Stations. 



DEPARTMENT NEWS. 

 The Imperial Commissioner of Agricidture left 

 Barbados on Tuesday, November 23, by the R.M.S. 

 'Berbice', on an official visit to Grenada. Dr Watts 

 will probably return to Barbados ])y the R.M.S. 'Esk' 

 on the 30th instant. 



Mr. W, BifFen, B.Sc, Scientific Assistant on the 

 staff of the Imperial Department of Agriculture, left 

 Barbados for England, by the R.M.S. 'Thames', on 

 Tuesday, November 16, on leave of absence owing to 

 ill health. 



Mr. J. C. Moore, Agricultural Superintendent at 

 St. Lucia, returned from England by the R.M.S. 'Oruba' 

 on November 22 last, after six months' leave of 

 absence. 



Mr. Gilbert Graham Auchinleck, B.Sc, of Mo Gill 

 University, Agricultural and Science Master, St. Kitts, 

 has been appointed by the Secretary of State for the 

 Colonies to the post of Agricultural Superintendent 

 in the colony of Grenada. 



On the recommendation of the Imperial Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture, Mr. C. R. Kirton, Manager of 

 Halton estate, Barbados, has been appointed to act as 

 Agricultural Instructor, on the staff' of the Local 

 Department of Agriculture, St. Lucia, for a period of 

 six months. 



