weaving, not only into their mummy cloth, as has been shown by 

 microscopic examination, but also into the fine linen mentioned 

 in Holy Writ. 



If further proof were needed as to the cultivation of flax by 

 that remarkable people, it is only necessary to refer to the 

 description of the plague of hail mentioned in the Book of 

 Exodus : — "■ For the barley was in the ear, and the flax was 

 boiled," or in seed. Even in our own time, and in this part of the 

 world, we know that the Aborigines of this country, who are, 

 perhaps, among the lowest in the scale of civilization, used the 

 fibres of plants for their cordage, fishing nets and lines, and bags 

 for carrying food, while our neighbours, the Maories, wove the 

 fibre of the so-caljed New Zealand flax-plant (Phormium tenax) 

 into mats, some of them highly if rudelj' ornamental, for clothing, 

 as well as for cordage, nets, bird snares, and other purposes. It 

 may be said, in fact, that the use of fibrous plants is coeval with, 

 the creation of the human race, and has come down throughout 

 all ages and with all peoples to the present day. 



VICTORIA ADAPTED FOR FIBRE PLANTS. 



All this is, nevertheless, perhaps somewhat beside the question 

 of why we in this colony should not devote some of our energy and 

 enterprise in the direction of cultivating, for economic purposes, 

 the very many fibre-producing plants which lie close to hand, or 

 which may readily and successfully be grown in our midst. That 

 they may be so grown, and that fibres of commercial value can 

 be produced from them, is amply demonstrated by the fact that 

 large collections liave been, from time to time, shown at various 

 Exhibitions at home and abroad, and that some of them have 

 gained high commendation from scientific, manufacturing, and 

 mercantile experts. 



I have much pleasure in bringing under notice more than 130 

 samples of fibres produced from as many different plants (indi- 

 genous and exotic) grown in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, 

 and of which in most instances specimens have been sent to the 

 following Exhibitions : — The Centennial of Philadelphia, 1876, 

 and the preparatory one here in 1875 ; the Paris Universal, 1878; 

 Melbourne International of 1880; that of Amsterdam, 1883; New 

 Orleans, 1884-5; the Colonial and Indian, 1886; Jubilee Inter- 

 national, Adelaide, 1887; Melbourne Centennial, 1888-9; the 

 New Zealand Exhibition of the same year ; and last, not least, 

 to the Imperial Institute. 



The samples were all prepared by hantl, under my direction, by 

 garden employes, and with very crude appliances, such as blunt 

 knives and scrapers, which were used for the purpose of removing 

 the soft vegetable matter after the leaves or stems (as the case 



