Director's Annual Report. 51 



In New Zealand this plant grows spontaneously in almost any 

 soil or locality, the best fibre being dependent upon a favorable 

 site, free from excessive moisture. It has been introduced to many 

 countries and is said to grow readily as far north as Scotland. 

 California seems well suited to New Zealand flax, and it also adapts 

 itself well to these Islands. The Cyclopedia of India states that it 

 is particularly suitable for growing on old coffee land. The fibre 

 of this plant is strong, flexible and of a clear white color. The 

 preparation is by maceration, but a better article is produced by 

 scraping, so applied as not to injure the cells. The human thumb 

 nail has not yet been surpassed for this purpose. This fibre is suit- 

 able for manufacfluring into almost all kinds of cordage and textiles, 

 a cloth being prepared from it resembling linen duck. 



OKRA. 



ExoGEN. Bast Fibre. Malvaceee. Hibiscus esculens. 



The Okra or edible hibiscus is a native of the West Indies, 

 belonging to the same natural order as cotton and the native hau. 

 It is grown in the Southern states for its pods, which afford the 

 "gumbo" of culinary fame. The plant flourishes well in the 

 Hawaiian Islands, and on account of the reputed value of okra as 

 a fibre, enquiry has been made as to the possibilities of its profit- 

 able culture. The value of okra fibre has, however, been greatly 

 over-estimated, and efforts to cultivate it have been producftive of 

 no satisfactory result. It is found to be brittle and inferior to that 

 of other mallows in tenacity, possessing only half the strength of 

 hemp. There is apparently no literature on the subject, and okra 

 is known commercially chiefly by its unenviable reputation as an 

 inferior adulterant of jute. It seems well proved that many plants 

 can be grown more easily than okra whose fibre possesses much 

 greater value ; a paper called "barrda" is, however, made entirely 

 with this material. 



OI^ONA. 



ExoGEN. Bast Fibre. tlrticacecu. Touchardia latifolia. 



The most important of the native fibres, and indeed one of the 

 best in the world, is Olona. Allied to ramie, true hemp and the 

 paper mulberry, it also enjoys the distincftion of being the sole 



