255 
belong to Corchorus capsularis, L., the plant yielding Indian jute. It 
would therefore be better to call this fibre simply * China jute." 
There isa fibre yielded by a species of Abutilon, but this appears to 
come from Northern China. » * =. z 
I have, &c. 
Sir Villiers Lister, K.C.M.G., (Signed) D. Morais, 
i W 
Foreign Office, S.W. 
Acting Consul Hose to Foreign OFFICE. 
My Lor, Chefoo, September 5, 1891. 
Wiru reference to the enclosure in your Lordship's despatch to 
me of June 5th last, wherein the Assistant Director of the yal 
Gardens, Kew, mentions a plant grown in North China which yields a 
fibre known in the London market as China jute, I have the honour to 
forward herewith a brief report on the cultivation of the plant in 
question, and on the method of extracting the fibre. 
I am sending direct to Kew, by parcel post, dried flowering and 
fruiting specimens of the plant, a packet of seed, and a sample of the 
fibre. 
The only other plant cultivated in this neighbourhood for its fibre is 
Cannabis sativa or Russian hemp. 
I have, &c. 
(Signed) А. Hosts, 
The Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., Acting Consul, 
oreign Office. 
[ Enclosure. ] 
Report on the CULTIVATION of a FiBRE-YIELDING PLANT at 
CHEFOO. 
This plant, known in the north of China as Ching Ma, or more 
briefly Ch’ing, yields the fibre, also called Ching, which appears as 
“jute ” in the export returns of the Imperial Maritime Customs. It is 
an annual. The seeds are sown towards the middle of April in land that 
has previously been well worked and manured, several seeds being sown 
numbers of yellow five-petalled flowers on stalks, which spring > 
axils of Өз akaaka Thes quickly fall, and are sueceeded by seed 
capsules of comparatively large size, grooved, and semi-spherical in shape. _ 
Each capsule is made up of a number (11-15) of cells, with awns at 
upper ends curving down, and into the centre of the Each 
ote е openi 
of the outer and upper walls of the cells. Towards the end of August 
the plants have attained maturity. They are then cut down by knife 
near the root, an н eun 
made up into bundles tied loosely at the tip end, and placed upright in 
