SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMIC PLANTS. 283 



South African Economic Plants. Hie i)/^/7r- 



tin of the Imperial Institute ( 1914J 12 [ij, records the results 

 of some investigations recently performed in the institute's 

 laboratories into the economic values of some South African 

 plants. Amongst these was some aloe fibre from Bechuanaland. 

 thought to have been derived from. Aloe Linjardiana. This fibre 

 was lustrous, fairly fine, and soft, of pale straw coloiu', and well 

 cleaned and prejxired. It was found to be of fairly good 

 strength, and \aried in length from 20^ to 37^ inches, averaging 

 about 30 inches. Il.s percentage of cellulose was found to be low, 

 and this fact, coti{)led with a rather high loss on hydrolysis, 

 indicated that it was somewhat inferior to Sisal hemp in respect 

 of chenncal composition and l)chaviour, and that it would pro- 

 bably prove to be less durable. The fibre was valued at £27 to 

 ±28 per ton in London, and would probably be saleable in the 

 United Kingdom as a cordage material, although rather short 

 for that puri)ose. /Another economic plant examined was 



SeiUa rigidifolia from Swaziland. The leaves were dry and 

 rather l)rittle, containing a fair pro])ortion of fibre, which, how- 

 ever, was very weak, and cotdd not be profitably extracted for 

 textile purposes. It is possible, nevertheless, that the leaves 

 nfight tind a market for ])aper making, and with this object in 

 view thev were examined. Com])ared with Algerian esparto 

 grass the leaves yielded a larger proportion of pulp, although 

 the ultimate fibres of the pulj) were rather shorter. It seemed 

 likely, therefore, that the dried leaves would be saleable for 

 ])aper making at a price approximating to that of Algerian 

 esparto grass. .Vt such a jrice, however, it appeared oln-ioiis 

 ihat the collection and export of the leaves of .S'. rigidifolia would 

 not l)e ])rofitable, and so the employment' of the ))lant for pa])er 

 making in South Africa was suggested, or the local conversion 

 of the leaves into " half stuff." Vidiich could then be shipped to 

 Europe, and so efi'ect a considerable saving in the cost of trans- 

 port. A third economic product to which allusion is made in 

 the Bulletin is the timber of Khaya nyasica from the Mozam- 

 bifjue Province. The Avood was well seasoned and uniformly 

 sound, and weighed 38 lb. per cubic foot. When freshly ctit 

 it was pinkish-red with a brown tinge, l)ut on exposure the 

 colour improved to a deeper red-brown. It was uniform in 

 texture, firm, moderately hard, and worked freely, and would 

 be classed as a good average African mahogany: so closeiv, 

 indeed, did it resemble mahogany that it Avas imagined there 

 Avotild be no difiiculty in selling it as such ; in fact, it is said 

 that many woods inferior to it are already being sold as 

 mahogany. 



