926 AgricuUnral Gazette of N.S.W. [Nov. 2, 1908. 



Dysuria and other ciiiiiplaints. He mentions fufthei' that the foiiiicr |ilaiit 

 is used in the Htraits Settlements in the preparation of rat-poison, l)ut does 

 not stat(? what part of the pUint is used. 



There may, tlierefore, be souu," founcUition in liie report that the roots of 

 DianeUa are poisonous, but we shoukl first ascertain the species. 



Dianella roots are long finger-like processes, in masses like a bundle of the 

 old tallow candles strung together. Here is certaiidy primd facie evidence 

 warranting a careful chemical investigation of the roots of these common 

 Australian plants. 



A Valuable Fibre Plant [Asclepias semllunata). 



In the Gazefft' for Jidy, 1908, p. 585, is a note under the above heading. The 

 plant being unkno\vn in Australia I had, in the meantime, communicated with 

 Kew and Mr. J. Burtt Davy, the Government Botanist of the Transvaal. 

 The replies are now to hand. 

 Mr. Davy says : — 



I do not think any relianre can l)e placed on tlie statement that it has stood the 

 winter of Johanneshui-g. During the last live years my correspondents and I have been 

 energetically collecting Asclepiads, and .4. scinilunata has not turned up in any of our 

 Transvaal collections. I think it is very uidikely that it occurs with us. 



With tlie exception of the alien species A.frntiroifii and an allied indigenous species 

 A. lini/ari-s, it is doubtful whether any of ours are of use as fibre plants. We often receive 

 samples of the silky seed-hairs, from persons who think they may be useful as a substi- 

 tute for cotton, but as they lack the tirisf and are inferior to cotton, I do not see how 

 they can be of any commercial value. 



If we turn to the Kew BiiJletin we get the following information :-- 



" Fibre from Uganda {Asdepias semil.unata), N.E. Br., Asclepiade?e." 



Mr. M. T. Da we, Director, Scientific and Forestry Department, Uganda, has for- 

 warded for the Museni a sample of fibre prepared from the siems of this plant, which 

 attains a height of "i- o feet, and is found in Nile Land, Lower (Guinea, and South 

 Central Africa. A report on this fibre appeared in the Bulletin of the Imperiallnstitute, 

 \'ol. iii, No. 4. 1906, p. 316 {Kew Bulletin of Misc. Information, No. 9, 1906, p. 397). 



The reference in the " Bulletin of the Imperial Institute" is to an article 

 entitled "The fibre of A.sclepins .semilunata from Uganda."' 



A chemical examination of the fibre is given and the paper, which cannot 

 usefully be briefiy abstracted, should be referred to. The concluding 

 paragraph is as follows : — 



The fibre of Asclrpias semilunata therefore appears worthy of further attention in 

 Uganda, especially if the plant is abundant or can be easily cultivated. In this case 

 efiforts should ]>e directed to the production of a uniformly long fibre, as the value of the 

 product in this form will be much greater than if a considerable proportion of short 

 fibres is present. The short fibres would probably only be commercially useful in the 

 event of the technical experiments, to which reference has been made, proving successful. 



The evidence so far available points to the fact that this plant belongs to 

 a tropical country solely, viz., Uganda, a British Protectorate of Central 

 Africa, north-west of the Victoria Nyanza, and not far from the Equator. 



Acclimatisation experiments are provei'bially full of surprises, and whether 

 the plant will flourish in any part of New .South Wales is a matter for 

 experiment. If it does do so in any locality, theii the cost of production of 

 the fibre and the demand of this particular kind will have to be gone into. 



