242 
MESSRS. IDE AND CHRISTIE to ROYAL GARDENS, KEW. 
72, Mark Lane, E.C. 
DEAR SIR January 21, 1892. 
WE to-day favoured with the specimens of fibre and cord 
. eg kat. of the oil palm (Elæis guineensis), for which accept our 
than 
We “Should be glad to know if your correspondents at Lagos led 
you to suppose that this cade is, or or be, produced in merchant- 
able quantity for export to this country. As we informed you ina 
previous letter (23rd June last) nothing but small samples have ever 
een seen here, and, until a quantity i , Say, 5 to 10 tons comes home, 
no true estimate of the value can be a 
Permit us to point out that the fibre should be sent untwisted and 
unplaited. 
We fear the per-centage of fibre in the pinnæ is — and that the 
extraction must be attended with considerable difficu 
e set we. 
D. Morris, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., (Signed) IDE AND CHRISTIE. 
C, c. 9 
Royal Gardens, Kew. 
In reply to the request for pepati respecting the methods pon 
sued in ee fibre from the leaves of the oil palm, a report w 
received through the Colonial Office irons the re nment of on 
It was prentis by Mr. Alvan Millson, the Assistant Colonial Secretary, 
and contains much interesting information on the s ubject. e fibre is 
extracted from the young leaves only. The process is identical with 
ny part 
e 
Vincent’s Court, at the Jamaica ae 1891, illustrated the pro- 
cess at the request of the St Director of Ke ew, during his late 
visit to Jamaica. There were several excellent oT of similar 
palm fibre shown amongst the "st. Vincent exhibits 
NOTES on the preparation of fibre from the pinne of the Oil Palm 
(Elæis guineensis). 
The inner side of the leaflets of the oil palm contains a fibre almost 
as fine and tenacious as human hair. This fibre i gi called Awshawn by 
the Yorubas, Poaiñ by the Kroos, and N’K’aw by the Accras. Itis 
used all along the coast of the Gulf kal mule ¢ for T fishing lines. 
Its use is very similar to that of t or pp palm (Astrocar- 
pua fibre with which the Caribs -4 ps pa d of St. Vincent and the 
f-fringed Honduras coast make their deep sea lines. 
ae the preparation of this fibre a piusiderable amount of skill is 
wn. 
The pinnæ of the young leaves which have ae been hardened b 
exposure are the only ones that can be made of. If too old, the 
se rated i 
pen 
handling which it has to undergo while in process of manufacture. I 
gathered at the right age the stripping of the fibre offers no difficulties, 
although the process is both tedious and wasteful, 
