278 



USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



the kingdoms of Oware and Benin, west Africa. The tree is of medium height, the 

 leaves measuring 6 or 7 feet in length. The stems are used for the framework of 

 native dwellings, and the leaves, hound with lines, are used for thatching. From 

 the trunk an intoxicating heverage called Bourdon is ohtained. 



The governor of Lagos, in a report to the Kew authorities in 1891, states that it 

 would he inipossihle to calculate the area occupied hy these forests, hut it may he 

 accepted '-without doubt that they extend throughout the length of the colony, 

 and to a distance of at least 15 miles from the seacoast, and that over this area of 

 about 5,000 square miles they form a considerable proportion of the vegetation, next 

 only in numbers to the oil palm and the mangrove."' (See fig. 93.) 



Structural Fiber. — This is the " African bass" of commerce. It is in appear- 

 ance a stiff and wiry liber, varying 

 in color from dark brown to light 

 red, dependent for its shades on 

 duration of soaking. It is most 

 readily obtained in lengths of from 

 3 to 4 feet, beyond which length it 

 is inconvenient to pack and diffi- 

 cult to procure without injury to 

 t . e tree . In diameter it varies from 

 one-sixteenth to one-thirtieth of 

 an inch, the latter of which may be 

 accepted as the limit of fineness to 

 be admitted in a commercial sam 

 pie for the European market. 



The liber is obtained from the 

 fibrous sheathing at the base of 

 the petioles, in lengths of 3 to 4 

 feet. It has been a regular article 

 of commerce since 1890, though the 

 prices are somewhat lower than 

 those quoted for Para and Bahia 

 piassaba, which are employed for 

 the same uses, that is, for hard 

 brushes. Epidermal strips are 

 also secured from the leaves of this 

 species, though shipments of the 

 fiber made in 1895 were reported 

 upon as badly prepared, the strips 

 being too short, and curled up, 

 resembling fine twine. 



Everybody in the colony is aware 

 of the manifold uses of the Raphia 

 palm; how, from its leaves, hats, 

 cloth, and cordage are made : from 

 its leaf stems, rafters, fences, and walls, and from its crown of young unopened leaves 

 palm wine of excellent quality. Of one part only the use seems not generally known, 

 and it would appear that this particular portion of the tree, though hitherto treated as 

 useless, is in reality of more value than all the rest. When the " Bamboo" cutter 

 clears away the leaves from the lower stem of the palms the trees present a very ragged 

 and uneven appearance owing to the practice of leaving a portion of the leafstalk 

 adhering to the parent stem. These base stalks partially incase the bole of the tree 

 and project upward and outward forming the scaly covering which gives so strange 

 an appearance to a grove of Raphia palms. From these stumps of the leafstalks the 

 native ashing lines are made. The fiber is extracted by a process of soaking and 

 scraping, which is exceedingly simple and is fully understood by every bamboo cut- 



FlG. 93.— The Jupati palm, Raphia vinifera. 



