South African Fibre Plants. 579 



Commercial Valuation. — The fibre was submitted to a firm of 

 fibre merchants who stated that it was of similar quality to 

 Bimlipatam jute and suitable for use by jute spinners. Its value in 

 the open market (i.e. if saleable without official control) would be 

 about £45 to £50 per ton at the present time (July, 1917). The pre- 

 war value would have been £15 to £18 per ton. 



Imperial Institute. 



Report No. 2. — Results of the Examiination of Hibiscus cannabinus 

 fibre from South Africa. 



ImpeHal Institute m. 1679/17/2; dated 26th July, 1917. 



Reference.— Leii^r No. T.C. 85/16, dated 31st March, 1917, from 

 Trades Commissioner. 



Number or Mark and Weight of Sample. — " Fibre of 

 H. cannabinus, cut after the seeds have ripened, and immersed 27 

 days. No. 142." Weig-ht, 3| lb. 



Description. — Harsh fibre, of dirty grey colour, but fairly 

 lustrous. The material was gummy in parts and some adherent bark 

 was present, but it had been more evenly and carefully retted than the 

 preceding" sample No. 141. 



Strength. — The fibre was of fairly g-ood strength, and stronger 

 on the whole than sample No. 141. 



Length of Staple. — From 3 feet to 5 feet; average, 4 feet. 



Results of Examination : — 



Present ''Bimlipatam Jute" 

 Sample. (//. ca7inaMmis). 



Moisture, per cent 10.4 12.5 



Ash, percent 1.2 1.3 



(a) Hydrolysis, loss, per cent. ... 13.5 11.8 



(b) Hydrolysis, loss, per cent. ... 16.3 15.1 

 Acid purification, loss, percent. ... 1.0 — 



Cellulose, percent 72.0 75.4 



Loss on washing in water ... 1.2 



Commercial Valuation. — The fibre was submitted to a firm of 

 fibre merchants, who stated that if properly prepared it would be quite 

 suitable for spinning with jute. They stated that its present value 

 in the open market would be about £45 per ton, and that its pre-war 

 value would have been about £15 per ton. 



Remarks. — This fibre is of better strength than sample No. 141, 

 although inferior to it in colour. Both samples are short in staple 

 and not of very good quality, but similar fibres would be readily 

 saleable. The merchants who valued the samples desired to be 

 informed when commercial supplies of tbe fibre become available. 



While these samples were under investigation at the Imperial 

 Institute, the extraction of the fibre has received some attention at 

 the Botanical Laboratories, Pretoria, with such facilities as are at 

 present available, and it has been proved conclusively that there is 

 no difficulty in retting the fibre under South African conditions. 



With the temperature of the water varying from 18° C.-26° C, 

 the length of time required for immersion has been 10-14 days. The 

 vield of fibre from the bundles shown in Plates V and VI has been 



