MISCELLANEOUS ECONOMIC PRODUCTS 545 



or more in length. It has been introduced into Ceylon before 

 1824, and has become naturalised along the railway-line up-country, 

 where it was first planted to form a boundary. It has become 

 equally common in parts of India, where, however, as in Ceylon, 

 no commercial use is made of the fibre. The yield of the latter 

 is said to be only about 2 % to 3 % as against 3 to 4i % in Sisal 

 Hemp. The plant is similar in appearance, as well as in cultural 

 requirements, to the latter, but is distinguished from it by the 

 leaves being spiny along the margins towards the base. 



New Zealand Flax. (Phonninin tcnax. Liliaceae). A hand- 

 some perennial bushy, stemless plant of New Zealand, having long 

 sword-shaped leaves, which are either green or margined and 

 streaked with white; the latter form is of an ornamental appear- 

 ance and often grown for ornament. The leaves, rising from the 

 base, measure from 5 to 7 feet in length, and give upwards of 15 # 

 of their green weight in cleaned fibre; the latter is of a silky lustre, 

 nearly white in colour, '"with a breaking strain higher than that 

 of hemp or flax;" it is used for ropes, binder twine, and cordage. 

 It is estimated that an annual yield of 12 to 15 tons of green 

 leaves per acre may be obtained, furnishing from li to 2 tons of 

 clean fibre, which is said to be worth from 20 to 25 per ton. 

 The plant grows freely at the higher elevations in the tropics, 

 and has become quite acclimatized at Hakgala Gardens and 

 neighbourhood; it is readily propagated by division of the root- 

 stock or from seed. 



Panama-hat Plant; Toquilla "Palm." (Carlttdovcia pahuata. 

 Cyclanthaceae). A stemless palm-like plant with large palmate 

 leaves, similar to those of a fan-palm, with stalks 5 to 6 ft. long, 

 groxving naturally in clumps. The flowers, followed by the seed, 

 are produced in cones borne on stalks rising from the base, from 

 1 ft. to li ft. high. It is a native of Tropical America, and is ex- 

 tensively cultivated in parts of Eucador, Colombia, etc., for the 

 sake of the leaves from which the well-known Panama hats are 

 made. The plant is fully developed at about two to three years 

 old, and the same clump lives for many years in the same ground. 

 The young leaves are taken every month just as they begin to 

 unfold, the stalk being cut some distance below the leaf to facilitate 

 handling. Each leaf is torn into plaits about 3 inch wide (the outer 

 plaits being rejected), and finally into shreds by means of an in- 

 strument consisting of a piece of wood in which needles are pro- 

 perly arranged. These shreds, constituting the "straw," are then 



