80 



the green stems, and that retting, if carried out under con* 

 ditions not unlike those in the usual flax and hemp retting, 

 may possibly be employed with advantage " (p. 4). 



The offer of prizes for a machine adapted for the treat- 

 ment of fresh stems of rheea, as cut from the plant, is in no 

 way inconsistent with Dr. Watson's statement, because, on 

 grounds of economy, it has been found expedient to prepare 

 the fibre in India. " Except during the hot, dry weather 

 preceding the rains in Upper India (where rheea grows 

 best), it is very difficult so to dry the stems that no fermen- 

 tation or mildew shall occur."* The case of the Calotropis, 

 however, is quite different. The climate of the province 

 where it grows in greatest abundance is dry the maximum 

 rain-fall not exceeding 15 to 30 inches, while the plant attains 

 maturity in the hot season. The disadvantages of importing 

 dried rheea stems are therefore not applicable to the Calo- 

 tropis ; but the advantages attending the use of the dried 

 stems of the rheea, as enumerated by Dr. Watson, are 

 decidedly applicable to the Calotropis. The author writes : 

 " The advantages of using dried stems may be briefly 

 enumerated as follows : The greater facility in designing 

 machinery, and the probable simplicity of its working, when 

 compared with that intended to work the green stems. As 

 a matter of course, it is easier to break up and to remove 

 the wooden core of the stem, if the latter is perfectly dry 

 and broken, than if it is moist and flexible. Then, as re- 

 gards the important point of removing the outer brown 

 cuticle of the bark, if the dry stems are operated upon, this 

 cuticle is very friable, and easily reduced to dust and shaken 

 out ; whilst in the green it requires a scraping action to 

 remove it an action of all the most difficult to obtain by 

 mechanical means." 



* Notification issued by the Government of India, Department of 

 Revenue, Agriculture, and Commerce, dated Simla, 31st August, 1877, 

 No. 45. 



