294 DHUNCHEE PLANT AND FIBRE. 
Sesbania aculeata, herbaceous, annual, erect, sparingly branched, glabrous ; 
stem and petioles usually sprinkled with minute cartilaginous points ; leaves 
eight to ten times longer than broad; leaflets twenty to forty pairs, linear, 
obtuse, mucronate ; racemes axillary, peduncled, erect, lax, often about half 
the length of the leaves; few-flowered; flowers pretty large (more than half 
an inch long), on slender pedicels; corolla about four times the length of 
the calyx ; legumes erect, nearly terete, sharp-pointed. 
Dr. Roxburgh gives the following general directions for its 
culture. The soil is generally low and wet, and not requiring 
much preparation, as the plant is hardy, growing from six to 
ten feet, and rapid in growth. This renders it advantageous 
to cultivate, especially as it is considered a meliorating crop. 
The time of sowing is when the soil has been moistened by the 
first showers of April or May, About thirty pounds of seed 
are allowed to the acre, and less weeding is required than for 
Jute. The crop is ready to cut in September and October, 
though the fibre does not suffer if left standing till the seed is 
ripe, in November. The process of steeping and cleaning the 
fibre is similar to that required for Sunn, that is, Crotalaria 
juncea. The general produce of an acre is from one hundred 
to one thousand pounds of ill-cleaned fibre, the current price 
somewhat less than that of Paut, viz., Corchorus olitorius and 
capsularis. The expense of cultivation, including land-rent, 
is about nine rupees, 
This plant, generally cultivated about Calcutta during the 
rains, grows to the height of from six to ten feet, the fibres are 
long (six to seven feet), but coarser and more harsh than those 
of Hemp, unless cut at a very early period. From its great 
strength it is well calculated for the manufacture of cordage 
and cables. In Bengal, the fishermen make drag-ropes to their 
nets of this substance, on account of its strength, and dura- 
bility in water. Indeed, by the Bengalese it is considered 
more durable in water than either Sunn or Paut. 
It has been observed to the Author by one gentleman well 
acquainted with this fibre in India, that he was at a loss to 
know why the Dhunchee remained so much neglected in this 
country, as it is really a very excellent fibre for common 
cord and twine purposes, and certainly very much superior in 
strength and durability to Jute. It is also a much hardier 
plant than Jute; the latter, indeed, being rather an uncertain 
crop, for the production of the fine, long, silky fibre, so much 
