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PREFACE. 
THE volumes of the Kew Bulletin (1887-98) contain articles 
which more or less cover the whole field of commercial enterprise 
as applied to the Vegetable Kingdom. 
These articles are necessarily printed in a disconnected form, 
in accordance with the principle laid down by the Government 
that information of public interest should be published as 
speedily as possible. 
It will, therefore, be convenient to bring together occasionally 
the whole of the papers relating to one particular subject. The 
trouble of following these through a series of annual volumes 
would otherwise in great measure defeat the object in view. 
The present volume, which may from time to time be followed 
by similar collections, deals with the subjects of Fibres. It is one 
which is of first-rate importance to manufacturers at home and 
also to our Planting Colonies. 
In the pages of the Bulletin, as in other official publications 
emanating from Kew, it has not been customary, where all 
members of the staff in some degree co-operative, to assign the 
authorship of any particular piece of work to any. individual 
person. 
But in this particular line of inquiry it would be only just 
to state that the mass of useful and interesting information 
which is now presented to the public is in great measure due 
to the experience and research of the late paean Director, 
Mr. D. Morris, D.Sc., C.M.G. 
I cannot but take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude 
to the numerous eminent commercial firms in this country who 
have always, in the most courteous manner assisted this estab- 
lishment in its inquiries. 
W. T. THISELTON-DYER, 
irector. 
wide Gardens, Kew 
September 1898. 
