miffht be) had been either steeped for a few days in the lake or 

 boiled in coppers. The heckling or combing out afterwards, to 

 separate the filaments or threads, was effected by simply drawing 

 handfuls of the fibre through eight or ten nail-like spikes, 6 to 

 7 inches long, insei'ted in a board placed on a table — a very simple 

 process indeed, it will be said, but one which would be a very 

 tedious and unprofitable device in dealing with, say, the produce 

 of an. acre. No doubt suitable machinery would soon be found 

 for extracting the most of the new fibres I shall refer to, especially 

 should they prove to be of marketable value ; but I may here 

 remark that manufacturers in these colonies as a rule, though 

 they do not object to test new kinds, seldom care to have any- 

 thing more to do with them, probably because of the uncertainty 

 of cheap prodiiction and the possibility of not being able to 

 obtain a sufficient supply of material. Again, it may be stated 

 that it would be utterly useless for any one to attempt the culti- 

 vation of any fibres, no matter how common or how valuable, if 

 not kept up to a uniform quality by careful preparation. 



It would occupy too much .space were I to attempt to describe 

 the merits or demerits of the whole of the fibres (vide appended 

 list). I have, however, classified them in their natural orders or 

 families as they are related to each other in botanical sequence, 

 merely referring to some, but dwelling more particularly upon 

 those which, in my opinion, maybe most worthy of experimenting 

 with farmers or enterprising agriculturists. 



First, then, I begin with 



THE MALLOW FAMILY, ORDER MALVACE^, 



which includes the well-known Cotton of commerce (Gossy- 

 pium), cultivated in warm climates for its capsular fibre and 

 not for its bast. Although one or two kinds of cotton plants have 

 been known to grow to fair size in a season in certain favoured 

 localities within the boundary of Victoria, it is extremely doubtful 

 whether it would ever become a profitable industry, even by the 

 aid of irrigation, in any part of the colony. Be that as it may, 

 however, we have in the Mallow family an abundance of hardy 

 perennial plants (including shrubs and trees indigenous and intro- 

 duced) that will grow freely almost anywhere, and which will 

 yield from their bast (or inner bark) fibres of excellent quality, 

 known to be useful for many purposes. Sida rhombifolia (syn. 

 S. retusa) for instance — known as " Queensland Hemp," but in 

 no way related to the true hemp (Cannabis sativa) — will grow as 

 rapidly in Victoria as in Queensland or New South Wales, where 

 it is indigenous. It is found also in North and South America 

 and the East and West Indies. By retting (steeping) from six 

 to ten days it gives a fibre similar to the best jute, useful for rope 



