NILGIRI NETTI.K 



BCEHMERIA 



OIRARDINIA 



HETEROPHYLLA 



a ton ! Mr. Caiu*r"M n tore to it as one of the commonest and most conspicuous 

 i.f tho U yn.i.i.l uii'l N'll^'iri hills. Its fibre he tells us is used for bow- 

 Minnas, ami " would appear to require to be better known to be much appre- 

 :, <'.-\lc,ii it is nsf.l i'.>r cordage and string especially suitable for 

 ihing-lines. 



Girardinia heterophylla, Dene. In commerce this is known 

 i.uiiu NRTTLK. There are three fairly well recognised varieties, viz. 

 (,i) fictci-oit/ii//f<i proper, the condition met with on the temperate ami 

 sul>-trc>pu-al Himalaya from Marri eastward to Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, 

 :i ;inl Burma ; (#) imlniatii, the special form on the Nilgiri hills 

 ami Ceylon ; and (y) zrf/fanir(t, the variety met with on the mountains 

 of Rajputana, Central India, the Central Provinces, and the Deccan, 

 south to Travancore. It is commonly stated that ;>"////"'" yields a fibre 

 superior to either of the others. It would be more correct to say that 

 itti had been systematically studied and reported on in 1862 by the 

 tte Mr. Mclvor, Superintendentof the Horticultural Gardens, Ootacamund, 

 bile the other forms, though known to be fairly extensively used by the 

 hill tribes, had not been separately investigated. Under these circum- 

 stances it seems likely to serve the purpose of the present work if all three 

 be treated conjointly. The following are the vernacular names best 

 known : bichua, allu, awa, bhdbar, keri, sanoli, horu-surat, pha-pat, 

 tukak, serpa, herpa, ullo, kazu, shish-una, kubra, jurkanddlu, kunddlii, 

 i khajati (or moti-kajoti), agia, agarra, awah, ana, schorigenain, hpetye, 

 lya, bekshd, etc. [C/. Agri. Ledg., 1898, 78-9.] 



Production. In the North-West Himalaya uii-nrtiiiita takes the place of 

 i>i;-(/eani<t in. the higher and more ulterior or northern tracts ; it occurs between 

 4,000 and 7,000 feet in altitude, and thus practically above the altitude of 

 /*./..,/<*. It is a tall, stout, much-branched plant that grows to a height of 

 6 to 10 feet and usually in the form of dense clumps which, owing to the very 

 poisonous nature of the stinging hairs, are left severely alone both by men and 

 animals. The plant is, however, fairly extensively utilised by the hill tribes, 

 especially on the Himalaya, as a source of strong and durable fibre. The long 

 straight shoots are cut down in the cold season (August to October), stripped 

 of their leaves and buds at once, so as to remove as far as possible the stinging 

 bristles ; they are then washed for three or four days hi water, and the fibrous 

 bark thereafter drawn off as with hemp. Capt. Rainey, speaking of the 

 present plant, not irbrrtirn*ia, says the shoots after being cut are exposed 

 to the open air for one night ; then stripped of their leaves and sun-dried ; next 

 placed in vessels and boiled with wood-ashes for twenty-four hours. The fibre 

 is thus found to separate easily and is removed, washed and sprinkled with the 

 flour of the grain kodra, and left to dry, when it is ready to be spun. Campbell 

 observes that in Nepal this fibre is used in making an exceptionally strong cloth 

 called bangra (Agri. and Rural Econ. Nepal), and Gamble and others use for 

 that cloth (as met with hi Sikkim) the name gunny or gunnia ; in Burma 

 rhea is called gun. These names are doubtless derived from bhanga (which 

 signifies to break) and ganja two words that, at the present tune, are restricted 

 to the intoxicating property of hemp. The term gunny in modern commerce 

 is applied to a sacking made of jute. 



It has already been mentioned that Mclvor cultivated the form jtainintti 

 the Nilgiri hills. The soil best suited he describes as alluvial deposits such 

 are found in ravines. He sowed the plant in rows 15 inches apart and cut 

 down the young shoots for fibre twice a year, namely in July and January. In 

 doing so he left 6 Laches of stem as the stool for future shoots. After each 

 cutting the earth between the rows was dug to a depth of 8 inches and manure 

 applied. From the crop of July an average produce of 450 to 500 Ib. of clean 

 fibre may be expected. Of this 120 Ib. will be superior quality, in other words 

 the produce of the very young and tender shoots, which should be assorted by 

 themselves at the time of cutting. The January crop will yield on an average 

 600 to 700 Ib. per acre. This fibre is, however, inferior owing to the shoots 

 being mature. Were fine fibre only desired, Mclvor was of opinion it would 



161 11 



Mi -tn:.&. 



D.E.P., 

 iii., 488 

 602. 



Nilgiri 

 Nettle. 



Special 

 Investigation. 



Vernacular 

 Names. 



Himalayan 

 Supply. 



Season of 

 Cutting. 



Boiled with 

 Wood-ashes. 



Cloth made of 

 the Fibre. 



Origin of Name 

 Ounny. 



Nilgiri 

 Experi- 

 ment. 



Method of 

 Cultivation. 



Yield. 



