Added  as  a Monthly  Supplement  to  the  “ TROPICAL  AGRIC  ULTU RIST. 
THE  MAGAZINE 
OF 
Tfje  moot  of  agriculture, 
COLOMBO. 
Yol.  IV.] 
AUGUST,  1892. 
[No.  2. 
BANDAKAI  FIBRE. 
T will  be  remembered  that  in  a 
recent  issue  reference  was  made 
to  specimens  of  bandakai  fibre 
prepared  by  the  agricultural  in 
structor  at  Madampe,  Sabaraga- 
muwa  Province,  and  also  of  rope  made  from 
it.  Some  interest  in  the  subject  was  aroused 
at  the  time  and  the  question  of  the  economic 
value  of  the  fibre  was  discussed.  The  Kew 
Bulletin  referring  to  Bandakai  or  okra  fibre 
describes  it  as  “ long  and  silky,  with  a break- 
ing strain,  according  to  Roxburgh  of  79  lb. 
dry  and  9d  lb.  wet;  evidently  well  adapted 
for  making  ropes,  twine,  and  sacking,  while 
the  residual  portions  could  be  utilised  for 
paper-making.”  The  preparation  and  use  of  this 
fibre  is  said  to  have  been  revived  recently  in 
the  Southern  United  States,  where  the  plant 
is  largely  grown  during  the  summer  months, 
and  also  in  Cuba.  In  the  report  of  Consul 
Ramscten  on  the  trade,  commerce,  and  agri- 
culture of  the  Province  of  St.  lago  de  Cuba 
for  the  year  1890,  the  following  information 
is  supplied  respecting  the  fibre  of  okra  known 
in  Cuba  as  quimbombo  (other  names  for  the  plant 
being  okro,  gobbo,  and  gombo)  : “ The  fruit  of 
the  quimbombo  ( Hibiscus  esculentus ) is  well 
known  iu  the  English  West  Indies  under  the  name 
of  okra,  and  is  used  as  a vegetable,  but  although 
Pichardo,  in  his  Diccionario  de  Voces  Cubanas, 
mentions  tbe  plant  as  being  applicable  to  rope 
making,  I am  unaware  that  it  has  been  used 
as  fibre,  and,  therefore,  refer  to  it  here.  Last 
year  Messrs.  Bosch  and  Company,  of  this  city, 
made  an  experiment  with  some,  and  sent  400 
pounds  of  the  dried  fibre  to  London,  where 
they  say  it  was  much  liked,  and  found  to  be 
worth  £40  per  ton.  Three  crops  are  obtained 
in  the  year,  and  its  preparation  by  maceration 
gave  very  little  trouble.  The  stem  produces 
tiabre  of  fine  quality,  and  about  4 ft.  iu  length, 
and  apparently  strong.  Further  trials  will 
probably  he  made  here.  I send  a sample  of 
it  with  this  report.” 
The  sample  of  fibre  above  mentioned  has 
been  forwarded  to  Kew  by  the  Foreign  Office, 
and  is  now  in  the  Museum  of  Economic  Botany. 
With  regard  to  the  commercial  value  of  this 
Cuban  fibre,  Messrs.  Ide  and  Christie,  of  72, 
Mark  Lane,  E.  C.,  to  whom  it  was  referred,  re- 
port as  follows ; — “ Hibiscus  esculentus.  The 
sample  shows  the  fibre  to  be  only  moderately 
stronger  than  jute,  imperfectly  cleaned,  and  very 
yellow  in  colour.  We  value  it  at  £18  to  £20  per 
ton  today  in  London.  It  is  possible  that  the 
colour  could  be  greatly  improved  by  more  care- 
ful preparation,  and  that  in  that  case  its  value 
might  be  increased  by  £4  or  £5  per  ton.  We 
cannot  imagine  it  possible  that  fibre  of  this 
type  could  have  been  found  worth  £40  per  ton 
last  year  in  London  as  stated  to  the  Consul 
and  mentioned  in  his  Report.” 
Watt,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Economic  Products 
of  India  says  referring  to  the  Bandakai  plant : 
The  bark  yields  a strong  useful  fibre  of  a white 
colour,  which  is  long  and  silky,  generally  strong 
and  pliant,  and  composed  of  very  fine  individual 
fibres.  It  is  employed  economically  in  some 
parts  of  India It  is  undoubtedly  valuable 
and  seems  to  possess  qualities  specially  fitting 
it  for  the  purpose  of  paper-making.  It  contains 
74  per  cent  of  cellulose,  and  in  Messrs.  Cross, 
Bevan  and  King’s  experiments  it  was  found  to 
lose  9'8  and  ]4’2  per  cent  of  its  weight, 
when  boiled  in  1 per  cent  solution  of  caustic 
soda  for  5 minutes  and  1 hour  respectively. 
The  average  acre  yield  of  fibre  by  Death  and 
Ellwood’s  process  was  only  844  lb.,  while  by 
retting,  even  from  this  poor  crop,  it  amounted 
to  6 maunds  and  17  seers.  Liotard  in  his  Paper- 
maldm;  materials  of  India  notices  the  fibre, 
mentioning  that  it  is  very  fine  and  well 
suited  for  paper-making,  and  in  another  passage? 
says  that  paper  has  been  made  with  it,  though 
only  on  a small  scale,  in  the  Lucknow  central 
jail.  In  France  the  manufacture  of  paper  from 
this  fibre  is  the  subject  of  a patent ; it  receives 
only  mechanical  treatment  and  affords  a paper 
called  banda,  equal  to  that  obtained  from  pure 
rags.  This  valuable  fibre,  concludes  Dr.  Watt, 
does  not  appear  to  have  attracted  the  attentioq 
it  merits. 
