268 



The commercial experts reported that the ginned cotton was 



clean, of good hard staple, mixed in colour and worth about $d. per 

 lb. " Fully good fair brown Egyptian 5 ' cotton being quoted on the 

 same date at b%d. per lb. and " Middling American " at 3}^. per lb. 



From the foregoing report, it is evident that the cotton is some- 

 what inferior to the average qualities of Egyptian cotton. This 

 inferiority is probably due to deterioration caused by the adverse 

 climatic conditions to which the plants were subjected in the early 

 period of their growth. The cotton is nevertheless of fair quality, 

 and if this standard could be maintained and a moderate yield 

 secured, the cultivation might prove remunerative. In any case, it 

 certainly appears desirable that the experiments, referred to in the 

 report of the Superintendent of the Experimental Plantations which 

 are being carried on with the object of establishing a type of cotton 

 capable of withstanding the local conditions, should be continued, 



WYNDHAN R DUNSTAN. 



3rd March, 1905. 



FIBRE OF MELOCHIA 



M. CORCHORIFOLIA. 



This is a wiry weed, very common in cleared ground and easily 

 recognized by its small h^ads of little pink flowers with an ocre yel- 

 low eye. The stems are tough and slender, covered with a thin 

 light brown bark. I cannot find any allusion to its bark having 

 been experimented with as a fibre pioducer except a reference to 

 the fact that it is said to produce a fibre in Watts' Dictionary of 

 Indian Products. 



The plant came up abundantly in ground which had been cleared 

 in the Botanic Gardens for Sanseviera culture, and when the stems 

 had grown to about 3 feet long, a number were collected. The bark 

 was then stripped off, in the same way that is done with the Ramie 

 plant, and soaked and beaten in water. This took about a week 

 to do when a bundle of fibre was obtained, of by no means inferior 

 quality. The fibre is about 2 feet long, fine and strong, and beauti- 

 fully silvery white, in fact, quite silky. 



The sticks with bark on weighed 26 ozs., the bark when removed 

 weighed 13 ozs. This gave 2 oz. fibre or 6£ per cent, on the bark. 

 It may be doubted whether this fibre would ever pay for cultivation, 

 as it is not a close grower and does not attain the height of jute, 

 and further more, the cost of extracting it would perhaps be too 

 great, as a good deal of hand work has to be used in stripping the 

 bark, but it is a fibre certainly suited for native work, on a smaller 

 scale. No report on it has been procured as yet, but further experi- 

 ments with this fibre will be tried. 



The plant belongs to the order Sterculiacese and is known to the 

 Malays as Lumak Kutam. They use the leaves and roots as an 

 outward application in Small-pox, and also in cases of Dysentery. 

 It is a common weed all over the East.— Editor. 



