Fibres. 



20 



[January, 1910. 



be possible to start aloe plantations ; 

 but if this is to be done successfully, the 

 work will have to be undertaken by 

 an enterprising firm with sufficient 

 capital and practical knowledge. It has 

 yet to be proved that the aloe can be 

 profitably grown for commercial pur- 

 poses on such soils without irri- 

 gation. Experimental trials are being 

 made. So far as is known, the Agave 

 vera-cruz is the only Agave found in 

 Burma. It is not systematically culti- 

 vated for its fibre, though it is used 

 in some prisons for rope-making. It is 

 not yet certain whether Agave would 

 repay cultivation, and in any case a 

 better species than A. vera-cruz should 

 be grown. 



Fibre from Pine-apple and Sanse- 

 vieria. — The extraction of fibre from 

 pine-apple is not likely to become an ex- 

 tensive enterprise in any part of India. 

 Sansevieria has been repeatedly tried 

 by planters in Assam, but without pay- 

 ing results. It is possible that fibre can 

 be profitably obtained from the pine- 

 apple in Southern India. 



Flax.— Flax as a fibre crop is not yet 

 produced on a commercial scale in 

 India ; but extensive experiments were 

 begun in Bengal about tour years ago 

 and are still in progress. They will, 

 when complete, probably indicate that 

 fibre of good quality can be profitably 

 produced from this crop in several parts 

 of India. There are large areas under 

 linseed in the different Provinces, and 

 in some places where the conditions are 

 specially favourable, it may be possible 

 to produce good fibre as well as seed. 

 In other tracts the coarse stem of the 

 country linseed may yield fibre which is 

 inferior but still worth extracting. 

 Experiments are, however, required to 

 determine this, and also to show how 

 such fibre can best be utilised. Flax 

 cultivation has no particular prospect of 

 success in the United Provinces, except 

 perhaps in a few favoured localities ; 

 unless the growers can afford to stack 

 their straw until clean water is avail- 

 able. Except on the Dharwar Farm, the 

 different varieties of imported flax have 

 not yet been found suitable for culti- 

 vation in the Bombay Presidency. It 

 has, so far, not succeeded in Burma, but 

 no very systematic experiments have 

 yet been made. In the Punjab, 39,874 

 acres of linseed were sown in 1906-07, 

 14,669 acres being in the Kangra District 

 and most of the balance in the sub- 



montane districts ; but in 1907-08 only 

 29,348 acres were sown. The crop is 

 grown for seed. It is thought that good 

 material for fibre has been obtained 

 from trials made with Russian liuseed ; 

 but the difficulty lies in the retting, 

 which is being studied at Lyallpur as 

 well as at Pusa and at Dooriah in Behar. 

 Experiments in the Punjab which were 

 conducted many years ago were well 

 reported on as regards the growth of 

 the plant ; but the retting question was 

 not then fully examined. The local 

 variety of the Punjab is not suitable for 

 fibre purposes, owing to its established 

 habit of short and bushy growth. 



Malachra Capitata. — The Bengal Agri- 

 cultural Department tried Malachra 

 capitata at Cuttack, but gave it up as 

 hopeless after two years' trial. Similarly, 

 experiments conducted at the Rajshahi 

 Experiment Station in Eastern Bengal 

 and Assam, indicated that its cultivation 

 is not likely to be profitable. Experi- 

 ments have not yet been made in other 

 provinces. 



General Conclusion,— The Committee 

 believes that it is possible to extend 

 largely and pi-ofitably in the immediate 

 future, the cultivation of Jute, Sann- 

 hemp and Hibiscus cannabinua, and that, 

 later on, it is possible that a portion of 

 the linseed grown over large areas in 

 various parts of India may be utilized 

 for the production of fibre as well as 

 seed. A considerable increase of Agave 

 cultivation is possible in Assam and in 

 tracts which have similar physical and 

 climatic conditions. Successful rhea 

 cultivation must apparently be limited 

 to a comparatively narrow zone where 

 both climate and soil are particularly 

 suitable. The Committee affirms that 

 jute is a very paying crop and believes 

 that it can usually be followed by a food 

 crop in the same year. 



The Committee lays great stress on so 

 arranging the rotation of food and fibre 

 crops, that the encouragement of the 

 latter shall not be at the expense of the 

 former. From this point of view, those 

 fibre crops, which occupy the ground for 

 one season only, are preferable to those 

 of a perennial nature. 



The Committee believes that the 

 demand for fibres is bound to increase, 

 as they are essential for nearly all 

 branches of trade ; also that it is not 

 likely that prices will fall so low as 

 to render fibre cultivation in India 

 unremunerative. 



