SUMMARY 201 



The tree grows in the hot forests of India and Ceylon, and 

 also in the East Indies and West Indies and in tropical 

 Africa and America. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY. At present we import Kapok chiefly 

 from Java ; but India, and Ceylon, and the Sudan, and 

 New Zealand will probably be sources of supply in the 

 future. 



SUMMARY. With regard to fibres the empire is rich in wool, 

 but poor, at present, in cotton. 



More than 40 per cent, of all the wool produced in the 

 world is produced within the empire, 1 and this is nearly 

 twice the amount the empire needs for its own con- 

 sumption. 



Of cotton, the empire 2 produces only 39 per cent, of the 

 amount consumed in the United Kingdom ; 3 but the pro- 

 duction is increasing. 



Flax and silk, too, though not at present produced in 

 sufficient quantities to make us self-supporting, yet show 

 signs of improvement, and afford hope of increasing supplies 

 in the future. 



Jute and Phormium tenax are practically empire mono- 

 polies ; the former the product of India, the latter of New 

 Zealand. 



Sisal hemp and Russian hemp at present we import from 

 foreign countries, but sisal is being grown in increasing 

 quantities in the Bahamas, Kenya Colony, and Nyasaland. 



Kapok, though at present imported only from Java, is 

 grown in India and Malaya, and in the future will probably 

 be imported from those and other British countries. 



1 Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, South Africa > India, 

 the Falkland Isles, Egypt. 



2 Egypt, East Africa, West Africa, Sudan, West Indies, Nyasaland, 

 Uganda. This is neglecting the Indian supply, see p. 170. 



3 The amount imported from foreign countries into other parts of the 

 empire is not great 



