80 THE GOLD COAST 



of cotton will be exported from this region during the 

 next few years. In the same part of the country palm 

 oil and rubber are easily collected, and, besides being more 

 remunerative products, require comparatively small exer- 

 tion in preparation. An attempt to establish cotton 

 cultivation upon a commercial scale, among the in- 

 dustrious people of the Northern Territories, was made by 

 the British Cotton Growing Association, but the immense 

 distances of the inhabited tracts from a shipping port 

 and the consequent expense of transport, combined 

 with the uncertainty of the rainfall in these ultra-forest 

 regions, compelled the abandonment of the venture 

 in 1916. 



FIBRES. Piassava fibre, which has sometimes been 

 called " vegetable whalebone," is prepared from the 

 sheath of the lower parts of the leaf -stem of a tree 

 belonging to the Natural Order PALMM, and classified 

 as Raphia vinifera, P. Beauv. This tree is found growing 

 in the vicinity of streams, and occurs commonly in the 

 forest regions near the coast. 



The natives prepare the fibre, which is sold in the 

 European markets under the name of " Piassava," by 

 cutting the stem-sheaths and steeping them in water for 

 a considerable time until the fibrous strands are easily 

 separated by beating. After being extracted in this 

 manner they are dried in the sun. Only a small quantity 

 is exported from the country, but it is a more important 

 article of export from Sierra Leone and Liberia. As the 

 specific name denotes, wine is extracted from the tree, 

 by tapping the standing or felled tree, in the last case 

 with the aid of fire. 



On the estate of the African Plantations, Ltd., near 

 Axim, a fibre of excellent quality, commercially allied to 

 jute, has been prepared from the stems of a herbaceous 

 plant, which was supposed to be Triumfetta semitriloba, 

 Linn., but which has since been determined at Kew to be 

 T. cordifolia var. Hollandii, Sprague. The plant belongs 

 to the same Natural Order as Indian jute namely, 

 TILIACE&. A description of this fibre is given in 

 the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. vi. (1908), p. 241. 



This species has been observed commonly in a wild 

 state in the forests near Sekondi and Axim, but does 

 not seem to be present in the interior of Ashanti or in 

 the country towards the Volta river. 



