208 
kind of hot water was introduced by the next man. But it is not so 
much the case now, and I hope there is a better understanding than there 
was; but if so, it comes from our having been muc ch more careful and 
considerate in ‘dealing with the Colonists and even with their prejudices, 
Therefore you should never be hard vpon the dS ri te Colon 
Secretary. All I can say is, that I shall endeavour in that office to 
discharge the prcper duties of a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and I 
know that I shall receive from the Institution at Kew the most BARAR 
assistance in that undertaking. (Applause.)” 
-hemp Plants.— There are numerous varieties of Mus 
textilis 'yietitg the Manila-hemp of commerce. The two better kinds 
are known in the Philippines as lanoot betul and lanoot batang. The 
stems of the latter are said to yield as much as one catty (about 14 Ibs.) 
per stem. Great stress is laid on the fact that Manila plants can only 
; AW Herald, 1 Feb 
1894, states kie = AINE less than a well distributed rain-fall of four 
"or five inches per month will stop their growth . . . even in the 
: and preparation of Man 
fully discussed in the Kew Bulletin, 1887, April, pp. 1—4, and 1894, 
pp. 289-291 (with plate). Recently an interesting article with illustra- 
tions showing how the fibre is prepared appeared in the Bulletin of the 
Colonial Museum at Haarlem for March, 1895. It is stated that all the 
fibre aps at iiber is Se ared by hand. Machines have often 
cleaning methods. The enormous development which has taken place 
' late years in the Manila-hemp eae may be gathered from the 
fiet that while the ex ports were only 126,000 piculs in 1841, they had 
increased in 1893 to 1,283,000 piculs. Manila-hemp is regarded as 
Mauritius hemp, Phormium and Sansevieria. Manila-hemp, in fact, 
governs the market in these commodities. Hitherto Manila-hemp plants 
have not thriven on a large scale outside the Philippine Islands. The 
Mr. William Stigand, Her Majesty’s Consul at Manila, who was good 
h to obtain and forward to cae a case containing 47 suckers 
* from a well-known grower.” These arrived in November last. They 
yielded a number of strong healthy plante which so far promise to do 
much better under eultivation than the previous plants, Of the new 
sort it is intended to distribute a few to all the botanical establishments 
in the ihe Indies and West Africa, where they will receive sp 
attent = 
