AMBARI OR DECCAN HEMP 



HIBISCUS 



CANNABINUS 



Deccan Hemp 



appears, though fibre collected in the Toungoo district of Burma and prepared 

 by Mr. Le Fevre is said to have realised as much as 35 per ton in England. 

 Timber. The wood is used only for fuel, and occasionally for hut-building (see Mats and 



Matting, p. 776). [Cf. Yates, Text. Antiq., 1843, 304-6 ; Text. Journ., Oct. 1890; 

 Dodge, I.e. 197.] 



Deccan 

 Hemp. 



Cultivation. 



Distribution. 



Season. 



Fibre. 



Betting. 



Properties. 



Hopes and 



Cordage. 



Canvas. 



Bimlipatam 

 Jute. 



H. cannabinus, Linn. ; Roxburgh, Trans. Soc. Arts., 1804, 382 ; 

 1806, 152 ; also Coromandel PL, ii., 190 ; Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., i., 90, 194 ; 

 ii., 40, 84; iii., 179; Sprague, in Kew Bull., 1908. Deccan Hemp, 

 kanoff, ambari hemp, ambdri, ambadi, pulu, mesta pat, dare Tcudrum, pdtsan, 

 sheria, pundi, gogu, sujjddo, etc. A small herbaceous shrub, indigenous in 

 Africa and introduced into India, now cultivated extensively for its fibre. 



The cultivation, both as a crop and as a hedge plant, is largely carried 

 on in Bombay (especially the Deccan and Karnatak), the Central Pro- 

 vinces and Madras. Elsewhere to a much smaller extent Bengal, chiefly 

 Chota Nagpur ; also here and there in the United Provinces and the Pan- 

 jab. The Bombay statistical returns for 1905-6 show an area of 83,109 

 acres, with 16 acres in Sind, and an average of about 90,000 acres 

 annually. Rocky and laterite soils which are not suitable for jute are 

 well adapted for the cultivation of ambari. It grows best on the alluvial 

 soils of North Gujarat, but does also very well in medium black soils. It 

 is usually grown as a mere sprinkling among other crops, and the tillage 

 is the same as that of the crop with which it is associated, especially 

 bajra and juar. In October-November the plants should be uprooted. 

 Full-grown plants which have ripened their seed furnish stronger fibre than 

 if cut while in flower. The small bundles of stalks, when dry, are tied 

 into large bundles and steeped in water for some ten days. If the fibre is 

 separated in the cold weather, longer steeping is required. When removed 

 the bark and fibre readily peal off in strips from the root upwards. The 

 strips are then beaten with a stick and threshed in water till the clean fibre 

 is separated. It is bright and glossy, but coarse and harsh. The length 

 is 5 to 10 feet, and the breaking strain has been variously stated at 

 115 to 190 Ib. Hanausek (Micro. Tech. Prod. (Winton and Barber, 

 transl.), 1907, 83) gives interesting particulars of the microscopic structure 

 of this fibre. 



The Deccan hemp is spoken of as similar to jute, but very much 

 superior. In India a coarse sackcloth is made from it, though its chief 

 utilisation is for ropes and cordage. Coarse canvas is also manufactured 

 from it, and in Bengal it is employed for all purposes for which jute is 

 in demand, but being more durable it is used for fishing-nets and paper 

 manufacture. Ambari hemp is stated to be worth about 8 Ib. per rupee, 

 but no statistics regarding the extent of the trade are available. 



A few years ago a fibre appeared on the London market under the 

 name of Bimlipatam jute, which there seems little doubt was Deccan hemp. 

 Still more recently a new fibre from Rio de Janeiro has been much ad- 

 vertised under the name of Canhamo, and this has been shown by Sprague 

 to be obtained from an allied species, If. radiatus, Cav. (Fl. Br. Ind., 

 i., 335). Thus for commercial purposes both the Bimlipatam jute and 

 the Canhamo hemp may be accepted as possessing the same properties as 

 the fibre of H. cannabinus. 



The demand for Bimlipatam jute is stated to be yearly increasing, and 

 in 1903-4 the exports to London amounted in value to two lakhs of rupees. 

 On the London market it is worth from 11 to 12 12s. 6d. per ton. 



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