6i4 
THE TROPIC*! A13fRltH3l-TUmsT. 
[March i, 1890, 
Royal Gardens, Kew, to Colonial Office. 
Boyal Gardens, Kew, 21st February 1889. 
Sie, — I am desired by Mr. Thiselton Dyer to ac 
knowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, 
forwarding a copy of a despatch from the Governor of 
Lagos on the subject of a specimen of coconut coir which 
he had forwarded to Kew for an opinion as to its merits. 
2. The specimen, consisting of a bale weighing 42 
pounds, was duly received from the Crown Agents on 
the 11th ultimo. Samples were prepared _ and sub- 
mitted to respectable brokers and dealers in the city, 
with a request that they would report upon the value 
of Lagos coir as compared with other coirs now in the 
London market. 
3. The resu't of the inquiry is contained in the 
aonompanying papers. It would appear in the first 
place that it is necessary to separate coir fibre, as 
yielded by the cocouut, into two classes, namely, 
"bristle" fibre and "mat" fibre. The former is 
usually sold at about 30?. per ton, and the latter at 
about 10?. per ton, 
4. The sample from Lagos contained these two fibres 
mixed together, and hence it was not presented in a 
state suitable for sale in this country. It is evident 
that Lxgos fibre possesses no particular merit on account 
of its colour, but on the other hand, in Messrs. Harrison 
and Johnson's Report, it is stated to be " of very good 
length, which increases its value." 
5. Although these reports are not so encouraging 
as Captain Moloney was led to suppose from 
the specimens exhibited at the late Colonial and Indian 
Exhibition, they furnish useful hints as regards the 
character of coir fibre necessary to command ready 
sale in this country. 
6. With the view of further assisting in this di- 
rection, Mr. Thiselton Dyer has caused the specimens 
of Ceylon " Bristle " and Ceylon " mat," forwarded 
by Messrs. Ide and Christie, to be sent direct to Cap- 
tain Moloney as samples of coir fibres, which are 
acceptable to the London buyers. Other samples of 
fibre are enclosed in the parcel for Captain Moloney, 
including "brush" fibre, and "rough stuffing" fibre, 
prepared by Messrs. Toye and Bromley from the 
crude Lagos coir. — I am, &c, 
(Signed) D. Mouais. 
The Hon. R. H. Meade, c.b." 
[Enclosure No. 1.] 
Messrs. Ide and Christie to Royal Gardens, Kew. 
72 Mark Lane, London, E C, 7th February 1889. 
g IB _We are duly favoured with Mr. Jackson's letter 
of the 5th inst., and samples of coir from Lagos. 
These contain soft, half-prepared " bristle" fibre, used 
in the manufacture of brushes, mixed with short or 
"mat" fibre. Such a mixture is unfortunate, and 
detracts from the value of the samples, as the two kinds, 
being used for different purposes, have to be separ- 
ated. In the Ceylon coir they are always kept apart, 
and for your guidance we send you specimens of Ceylon 
bristle, value 30?. per ton, and Ceylon mat, value 10?. 
There is no'hing either in the colour or other 
character of the Lagos fibre which would justify the 
expectation of its commanding a ready demand and 
high price, as the Governor of Lagos has been ap- 
parently led to believe. On the contrary, we value 
the "bristle" portion of your samples at 151., and 
the " mat " portion at 9?. to 101. per ton.— We are, &c, 
(Signed) Ide and Christie. 
D. Morris, Esq., m, a., f. l. s. 
[Enclosure No. 2.] 
Messrs. Harrison and JOHNsoNto Royal Gardens, Kew. 
4 Catherine Court, Trinity Square, London, E.G., 
' 7th February 1889. 
gj Bi We are in receipt of your favour of the 5th in- 
stant.' and also the sample. The coir fibre you send 
is mixed half -prepared brush and mat fibre. The 
former if separated would no doubt find buyers at 
about 161. per ton. and the mat fibre wou:d sell 
freely at <J{. to 101. per ton. _ 
There is one sample consisting entirely of mat 
fibre- this is clean and long and would sell well at 
about 11?. to 121. per ton. If the brush fibre were 
properly combed out like sample we have sent you 
by post, it would readily fetch 28?. to 32?. per ton 
present market value. The samples of fibre you send 
are of very good length which increases the value. 
We would suggest that a small sample shipment 
be made, you would then get a good idea of the 
value. It would be no use sending any fibre unless 
the mat and brush were kept separate. 
If in future we can be of any help to you or 
to the Governor of Lagos in bringing this article before 
the trade we should be pleased if you would make 
use of us. — We are, &c, 
(Signed) Harbison and Johnson. 
[Enclosure No. 3.j 
Messrs. Trkloar and Sons to Royal Gardens, Kew. 
68, 69, and 70, Ludgate Hill, E.C., 
9th February 1889. 
Sir, — We are in receipt of your letter of the 5th and 
of the sample of Lagos coir. In our opinion this is 
badly cleaned or dressed, and not so good for brush- 
making as the usual sort. It certainly has no special 
advantages for mat-making, and is not in our opinion 
calculated to command a high price here. We have 
seen better fibre sold at public auction for 22s. per 
cwt. in London.— We are, &c, 
(Signed) Treloar and Sons. 
[Enclosure No. 4. J 
Messrs, Toye and Bromley to Royal Gardens, Kew. 
116, Fenchurch Street, London, E 0,, 
19th February 1889. 
Sir, — We confirm our letter of the 11th inst. and 
now beg to hand you our report on the fibre samples 
you sent. We trust this will give you the informa- 
tion desired. Should you require any other point 
answered we shall be happy to do so. — We are, &c, 
(Signed) " Toye and Bromley. 
Report. 
This fibre would find a ready sale here both for 
brush and mat making purposes, but the two sorts 
should be kept separate. For brush-making the long 
fibre can only be used and should be kept straight, 
and tied in small bundles and then made up in bales 
weighing about 1 cwt. or 2 cwt. each. The other 
sort for mat-making should be towselled and packed 
up into bales. Practically speaking the mat fibre is 
the combings or short from the brush fibre. There 
is also in the sample sent us a stuffing of rough 
fibre in each of the small bundles ; this should be 
avoided as it deteriorates the value considerably ; 
but if this stuffing was separately packed it would 
also sell here. We consider the value of the three 
sorts, if made up in the way we have described, 
would be based on the present value of fibre as 
follows : — 
Sample. 
No. 1. Brush fibre at 29?. to 31?. per ton. 
No. 2. Mat fibre at 18?. to 19?. per ton. 
No- 3. Rough stuffing sort at 10?. to 11?. per ton. 
We return a sample of each quality to show more 
clearly our meaning. The brush fibre, we sugge-t, 
should be tied up about the size of our sample No. 
1. You will notice that we have taken your sample 
as received, and dressed it into the above three 
sorts, which your friends will find far more advan- 
tageous than sending it in the rough condition. 
(Signed) Toye and Bromley. 
PATCHOULI. 
(Pogostemon Patchouli, var. stiavis.) 
Patchouli bas already been the subje3t of notice in 
the A'ew Bulletin (1888, p. 71 and p. 133). An inter- 
esting article on the Cultivation and Curing of Patchouli 
and its Adulteration has lately been contributed to the 
Journal ot the Agricultural and Horticultural Society 
of India by Mr. L Wray, junior, Curator of the Govern- 
ment Museum, Perak. As the information contained 
in this article may not be readily accessible in this 
country and in the Colonies, it has been thought desir- 
