November i, 1881.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
445 
lie Lli i n ii< -.i 
slightly sha 
found to g 
This v, 
principal 
(luce tlio 
it tc 
:;s apart. A second sowing 
round in October ; this will 
ed, but the plants should 
ance mentioned above. A 
i it best ; the seed will be 
ore freely, if it is steeped 
ours and then well mixed 
)wn in Bengal ; the 
leems to be to in- 
n once the plants 
lore care than the 
ado by many is in 
i soil is in a suit- 
is always advisable 
iber, when, 
good crop 
to delay sowing till the first week of Nt 
if a light, rich, friable soil is available, a 
may generally be grown without difficulty, for 
frequently owing to the seed rotting in the soil from 
an excess of moisture than from any actual defect in 
the seed that produces so many failures in the attempt 
to grow this vegetable. The seed may be sown broad- 
cast or in (hills at a distance of nine inches apart, 
and as soon as the plants are four or live inches high, 
they should bo thinned out to the same distance in the 
rows. They must be kept liberally supplied with water, 
and an occasional dressing of liquid manure will also 
be found beneficial. 
Rus in Ukbe. 
THE PLANTAIN TREE AND FIBRES. 
The following paragraphs and illustrations of Mr.- 
jiotard's memorandum were omitted by the Journal of 
he Society of Arts in its abstract, given by us on 
>agc 207 of the Tropical Agricultv/rist. We reproduce 
hem here from a Madras Government paper. The first 
lart as far as " rainy season " should come in after 
page 298, and the second part, "In 
icting * * * each hand, " should come in 
the same page and column. 
by strip, each 
The rollers might be two feet in length and eight 
inches in diameter, and should be of any strong wood 
which can easily be procured. Stone rollers might not 
be easily procurable; iron ones would, if not very clean, 
discolor the fibre, and both will in any case have the 
disadvantage of being more costly and less portable. By 
using the rollers the strips will be crushed, but not so 
as to injure or tear the fibre. If necessary, the strips 
can be passed twice through. 
The strips being crashed, the next thing to do 
is to entirely remove all the cellular tissues and color- 
ing matter which, by the eruslung, will have been 
loosened. A simple way of doing this would be to use 
a pair of wooden rollers of the same size as those just 
mentioned, but constructed thus : 
The lower roller would be a fixture, with a blunt wood 
or horn blade fixed into it, so as to stand against 
the space between the two rollers with a very slight 
slant on one side. The upper roller would be turned 
by the hand. The crushed strips should be placed be- 
tween the rollers from the side on winch the blade 
slants. Then the upper roller being tinned will draw 
the strip through between itself and the blade, thus 
scraping away most of the pulpy matter which will have 
been loosened by the previous set of rollers. 
After being passed a first time, the peg on both ends 
of the upper roller should be lowered into the posts in 
order to lower the upper roller so as to leave a minim- 
um of space between it and the blade. The strip 
should then again be passed through, once or twice, 
when it will come out quite free from all pulpy, matter 
In every case the strip should be passed through with 
When cleaned in this way, the fibrous material 
resulting will be well suited for paper-making, and will 
only need drying, to fit it for baling and despatch. 
But for cordage and textile manufactures we 
should go a step further ; we should comb the fibrous 
material, or (as it may more properly be called) the clean 
fibrous strip. This can bo done by laying the strip flat 
on a b oard with pegs arranged close together thus: 
The puller stands on this side. 
