EAST INDIAN HEMP 3! 



or five months after sowing. The best fibre is obtained by 

 cutting down the plants just as they flower ; but in India the 

 plant is not cut until the seeds are produced, the cultivators 

 preferring to have a strong, coarse fibre which is easily 

 manipulated rather than a superior soft kind, which, although 

 fetching a higher price, would require greater care in prepara- 

 tion, and which is liable to be spoiled by the slightest neglect. 



The stems, after being cut, are steeped in water for two or 

 three days, when the bark is softened and is partially detached 

 from the woody core. When taken out of the water, the 

 common practice is to bend the stems and break the wood 

 without injuring the fibrous bark, and the whole is next 

 beaten up in water until the woody particles are removed and 

 the fibre is held in the hand of the workman. In some places, 

 instead of breaking the wood and then removing the parts by 

 beating in water, the bark is pulled off just after the stems 

 have been sufficiently soaked. After washing and getting rid 

 of the woody particles, the fibres are hung up on bamboo 

 poles to dry ; when dry they are combed, in order to separate 

 the filaments from each other. The Sunn hemp is then ready 

 for market, and is considered to be superior in strength to 

 some Russian hemps. The average produce of Sunn hemp 

 fibre per acre is about 6 cwt. 



Bombay hemp is obtained from a plant of the Hibiscus canna- 

 binus family, and is commonly known in the Deccan as the 

 ambari. It is an annual which is found growing wild in many 

 parts of India, from the sea-level up to altitudes of 3,000 ft. 

 It has a prickly stem, growing from 6 to 8 ft. in height, and 

 has deeply cut leaves. The regular method of cultivation is 

 very similar to that practised in the growth of the Sunn hemp 

 plant. Moist, friable land is selected, and after preparing the 

 soil by tilling and levelling, the seed is thickly sown broad- 

 cast. Sowing is generally done 'immediately after the rains, 

 and the plants grow up in three months time and are then 

 harvested. The stems are either cut quite close to the ground 



