67 



general height would in most cases be considerably less. The 

 soil requires to be rich and deep. The best time to cut the stem 

 for fibre appears to be either when the plants are in flower or 

 while the capsules are still green. 



Be/,— Diet. Econ. Prod. Ind. vi. pt. 2B, pp. 681-686.— "Paddy's 

 Lucerne or Queensland Hemp," Maiden, in Agric. Gaz. N. S. Wales, 

 Aug. 1894, pp. 537-544.— Bull. Imp. Inst. 1905, pp. 23-24, with an 

 analysis of a sample from Nyasaland, in comparison with Indian 

 Jute. — Sida rhombifoUa, Linn, in Comm. Prod. Ind. Watt, 1908, 

 pp. 991-992. 



Sida urens, Linn. ; Fl. 'Trop. Afr. I. p. 179. 



///.—Mart. Fl. Bras. xii. pt. 3, t. 60. 



Widely distributed in Trop. Africa, the West Indies, Peru , 

 Brazil, &c. 



Stem yields a good fibre (Mus. Kew). 



WlSSADULA, Medik. 

 Wissadula rostrata, Planch. ; Fl. Trop. Afr. I. p. 182. 

 ///.—Mart. Fl. Bras. xii. pt, 3, t. 77 ( W. periplocifolia). 

 Vernac. name. — Cahembia-hembia (Angola, Welwitsch). 

 Cosmopolitan in the Tropics. 



This plant yields a fibre of good quality. A sample from 

 Trinidad, submitted to Kew (1889), was valued in London at £17 

 per ton, and with some improvement in colour at £20. Another 

 sample from Grenada (J 891) was estimated at £14 per ton ; while 

 further samples from Trinidad (1899) were valued at from 

 £15-£16 per ton (Mus. Kew). 



Commercially the fibre is classed as Jute, and the preparation 

 may be effected in the same way (see Corchorus capsularis). 



Under cultivation the plant appears to grow freely, producing 

 straight stems 9-10 feet high, from which a fibre can be obtained 

 at least 8 feet long (Mus. Kew). The following particulars of the 

 period of growth and yield per acre have been estimated at the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Trinidad : — Seed sown March 15th, 1898 ; 

 crop cut April 28th, 1899 ; yield per acre, raw strippings, dried, 

 1*089 tons ; yield per acre of clean bast fibre, 9] cwts. ; clean 

 material, 42 per cent, of raw strippings, retted four days, then 

 scraped and dried (Kew Bull. 1899, p. 226). 



The plant is sai'l to thrive in a barren and rocky soil, the land 

 being prepared simply by burning, and the seeds sown broadcasi ; 

 the stems are ready to cut in the course of about a year (Dodge, 

 Cat, Fib. PI. p. 38). 



Ref. — " Maholtine (Abutilon periplocifolium) as a New Fibre 

 Plant,'' Hart, in Agric. Rec. Trinidad, i. pp. 217-219.— AbuiUon 

 periplocifolium, in Descr. Cat. Useful Fib. PL of the World, Dodge, 



Rep. No. 9, 1897, U.S. Dept. Agric. Fiber Investigations. — I\V\v 

 Bull. 1899, pp. 226-227. 



B3385 



