ox THE TEEE M.MJLOAV. 287 



for its fibre properties by Messrs A. Cowan & Sons, of the 

 Valleyfield Paper Mills, Penicuik ; and the seeds analysed by Dr 

 Stevenson Macadam, In a note which Mr Curror sent me, 

 dated 21st Xovember 1871, he stated, " the results are that the 

 stalks are worth L.o per ton for paper-making; and the seeds as 

 valuable for feeding as linseed cakes." 



Messrs William Blackwood & Sons, of Edinburgh and London, 

 having kindly transmitted a plant, and sample of the green tree 

 mallow bark to Messrs J. Dickinson & Co., of the Xash Paper 

 Mills, Hemsl-Hempstead, for their opinion as to its properties, 

 they stated, in a letter, dated January 1873, " that the bark of 

 the plant contains a large proportion of fibre well adapted for 

 paper-making purposes, and possibly also for the manufacture of 

 common cordage." They estimated the market value of the bark 

 at about L.8 per ton, and, by way of encouraging an experiment, 

 offered to take two or more tons at that price. They also kindly 

 inclosed a specimen of " half stuff " prepared from the bark, and 

 " showing the fibre to be of fair strength even when highly 

 bleached." Messrs William Tod & Sons, of the St Leonard's 

 Paper Mills, Lasswade, having made some experiments on a 

 limited scale vrith the dried bark, were so well pleased with the 

 results that they offered, "at least, L.IO per ton for it," that 

 being the price they were then paying for esparto grass, or about 

 the same as the forementioned, L.5 per ton offered by Messrs 

 Cowan for the stalks, the bark and woody matter in these being 

 each nearly equal in weight. ^Ir Henry Bruce, of Kinleith Paper 

 Mills, Currie, having expressed a desire to experiment on a 

 largish scale with the mallow bark, his manager applied for 

 from 1 to 5 cwts. of it — wliich quantity I was unable to 

 supply. This application, and the preceding offers, induced me 

 to undertake the aftermentioned culture of the tree mallow in 

 the Island of Bute, in which I vras obligingly assisted by 

 Charles Duncan, Esquire of Woodend, Piothesay. 



On the 7th of last August I addressed a letter to Fletcher 

 Xorton Menzies, Esquire, secretary to the Highland and Agricul- 

 tural Society of Scotland, of which the following is an extract: — 



" Afjricibltural Plant for Cattle- Feeding and Paper-Making. — 

 A selected variety of the tree mallow {Laratcra arhorca), the 

 natural habitats for the normal form of which in Scotland are 

 the Bass Kock, witli other islets in the Firth of Forth, and Ailsa 

 Craig. Its ordinary lii'ights vary from G to 10 feet, but it can 

 be grown to more than 12 feet. It is a biennial, but the first 

 year it may bo planted, after the removal of any early crops, and 

 matured in that following. From the limited experiments which 

 I have been enabled to make, its products in seed, bark, and 

 heart- wood are estimated at about 4 tons of each per acre. 

 Chemical analysis by Dr Stevenson Macadnm, and by Mr 



