AGRICULT U 11 AL BULL ET I N 



OF THE 



STRAITS 



AND 



FEDERATED MAURY STATES. 



No. 6.] JUNE. [Vol. iv. 



FIBRES— (continued.) 



The Bast fibre trees and shrubs are less used as sources 

 of fibre than the herbaceous plants, as there is more trouble 

 in growing and preparing the fibre. Several, however, have a 

 special value of their own, and some of the others are collected 

 in the forests by natives and brought in for sale in the villages. 

 One of the only native fibres brought in for sale into the small 

 country shops is the bast of the Terap, Artocarpus Kumtleri, a 

 common tree in these parts. In Malacca and elsewhere where 

 the tree is abundant the Tutok {Hibiscus macrophyllus) is in 

 request for rough cordage, while many other shrubs and small 

 trees growing in the forests produce a ready-made tying material, 

 so that one may say one can always find string in a wood. 



Artocarpus Kumtleri, King. Terap is a common tree often 

 attaining a very large size, occasionally 100 feet tall or more. 

 The leaves are lobed when young, and often quite narrow and 

 deeply cut in shoots rising from a stool. In adult trees they 

 are entire and oval, hard in texture, and somewhat pubescent 

 beneath. The fruit when ripe is globular and it is eatable, being 

 sweet in taste. The stem contains a quantity of stick} - latex 

 which, however, never sets firmly, so that it cannot be used as 

 rubber, but it is much used as a birdlime. The bast can be 

 removed by cutting through the bark and stripping it off and 

 beating it out with a club. It is thus taken off in large sheets 

 of a dark brown colour and very tough. In this form it is used 

 by the Sakais for clothing. It is easily torn longitudinally into 

 strips and twisted into rope. 



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