164 



SELECT PLANTS READILY ELIGIBLE 



be inadequate to the demand for the plant. Merely torn 

 into shreds the leaves serve at once in gardens and vineyards 

 as cordage, and for this purpose, irrespective of its showy 

 aspect, the Phormium has been distributed from our Botanic 

 Garden since the last eighteen years. From the divided 

 roots any plantation can gi-adually be increased, or this can 

 be done more extensively still by sowing the seeds. In all 

 likelihood the plant would thrive and become naturalised in 

 the Auckland and Campbell's Group, in Kerguelen's Land, 

 the Falkland Islands, the Shetland Islands and many conti- 

 nental places of both hemispheres. Among the varieties 

 three are better characterised than the rest: the Tehore, the 

 Swamp and the Hill variety. The first and the last men- 

 tioned produce a fibre fine and soft, yet strong, and the plants 

 attain a height of only about five feet, whereas the Swamp- 

 variety grows to double that height, producing a larger yield 

 of a coarser fibre, which is chiefly used for rope or paper 

 making. As might be expected, the richer the soil the more 

 vigorous the growth of the plant ; it likes moreover now and 

 then to be overflown by fresh or brackish water, but it will 

 not live if permanently sunk into wet. In swampy ground 

 trenches shoidd be dug to divei-t the surplus of humidity. 

 Fibre free from gum-resin properly dressed withstands 

 moisture as well as the best Manila rope. Carefully prepared 

 the fibre can also be spun into various textile durable fabrics, 

 either by itself or mixed %vith cotton, wool or flax. In 

 October, 1872, the sale of Phormium-fibre in London was 

 11,500 bales, ranging in price from £19 to £31. The tow 

 can also be converted into paper, distinguished for its strength 

 and whiteness. The London price of Phormium-fibre for this 

 piu'pose is from £10 to £20 per ton. 

 For fui-ther details on the utilisation of this plant the elaborate 

 reports of the New Zealand Commission for Phormium 

 should be consulted. One of the dwarf varieties is Phor- 

 mium Colensoi (J. Hook). 



Phyllocladus rhomboidalis, Richard. 



Celery -Pine of Tasmania. A stately tree up to sixty feet 

 high, with a stem of two to six feet in diameter. The timber 

 is valuable for ships' masts. It will only gi'ow to advantage 

 in deep forest-valleys. 



Phyllocladus trichomanoides, Don. 



Celery-Pine of New Zealand, northern island; it is also called 

 Pitch-Pine by the colonists — native name, Tanekaha. This 

 tree attains a height of seventy feet, with a straight stem of 

 three feet in diameter, and furnishes a pale close-grained 

 timber, strong, heavy, and remarkably durable according to 



