876 
Supplement to the " Tropital Agriculturist" [June 1, 1901. 
must be exactly underneath a bud oa the stock. 
The bud will attract the sap to the scion bud, 
and thus promoce its .growth. After the ring of 
bark is placed, it is bandagsd and mastic applied 
to any exposed parts of the joinings. Slioald 
the diameter of the scion exceed that of the stock, 
it is easily remedied by cutting off from the scion 
a longitudinal strip of bark equal in width to 
the difference. On the other hand should the 
dimensions of the tube of the scion not correspond 
■with that of the stock, the difference is made 
good by leaving on the latter a strip of bark 
of sufficient width to fill up the space not covered 
over by the tube of the scion. In placing the 
bud on the stock, care should be taken to make 
sure that the edges of the back of the stock 
and the scion coincide all round. 
[A description of the method of inarching or 
grafting by approach as carried out on mangoes 
in the IJombay Presidency appeared in the Agricul- 
tural Magazine of August, 1892, under the head 
"Indian Jottings." In the issue of October 
last we reprinted a descrii)tiou of the method 
recommended by Mr. Horace Knight which is very 
similar to that given above as " flute budding." 
The notes on mangoes given by Mr. O'Connor, 
from which we have been quoting, will be 
concluded in our next issue. — Ed. A.M.] 
«s> 
FIBRE CULTIVATION IN INDIA. 
A considerable amount of attention daring 
recent years has been devoted by Indian planters 
to the cultivation in th^nt country of indigenous 
and imported plants from which fibres can be 
extracted, and the interest shown in this class of 
products has been increased by the establishment 
of Government fibre-plantation in Mysore, from 
which cuttings and plants can be obtained by 
the private planter. An account of the various 
plants so far cultivated in India for the sake of 
their fibres was given recently hy Mr. J. Cameron, 
P.L.S., in a lecture delivered before the Planters' 
Association of Southern India (Indian Agricul- 
turist, February, 1901), from which the following 
summary has been compileil. The most impor- 
tant of these plants is the so-called sisal hemp 
(^Agave rigidavar sisala-na), wliich belongs to the 
aloe tribe and is a native of yucatan, although it 
is now extensively cultivated in Florida and Baha- 
mas. The Mysore Govennuent imported several 
thousands of these plants from Fl.-,rida in 1894, 
and the latter are now in a flouii-liing condition 
and available for the use of planters. The lecturer 
called attention to the suitability of this plant 
for cultivation in the scrub and jungle waste 
places of Mysore, since it grows well under such 
conditions. The cultivation of the plant is 
remunerative, especially with the high prices 
for the fibre which have ruled in London and 
Liverpool during recent years. The yield of fibre 
per acre in Yucatan is about half-a-ton, and the 
average price obtainable mi.y be tiiken ns £25 a 
ton, although as much as £65 has lieen paid. 
The "China grass" fibre has been grown to a 
limited extent in the cooler parts of India, but 
appears to bo quite unsuited for cultivation in 
the plains. At present it has no commercial 
value, chiefly because of the lack of a machine 
for cheaply extracting the fibre. Another native 
plant which .yields a fibre which may prove a 
valuable one is the Ban rhea ( Villebrunea inte- 
grifolia), a plant growing in the sub-tropical 
Himaliiyas. The fibre has been examined in the 
laboratories of the Scientific Department of the 
Imperial Institute and found to be similar in 
type to that of China grass but of a much better 
quality, being more highly resistant to the action 
of acids and alkalies, and therefore likely to last 
better. 
Of plants which have been introduced into 
India the Mauritius hemp (Furcrcea giganted) 
seems to be a particularly useful variety. It 
produces leaves about eight feet in length, which 
are similar to those of the Agave, and can be 
manipulated by the same machinery. The plant 
seems to readily become acclimatised to India, 
and was observed to have run wild on the 
Shav-ory Hills by Dr. Watt in his recent tour 
through India. This species is suitable, the 
lecturer stated, for cultivation on abandoned coffee 
plantations. It yields a fibre similar to the silk- 
grass, highly resistant to the actions of water, 
and so suitable for the manufacture of ship's 
cordage. It has been valued at ^27 a ton. A 
coarser fibre suitable for paper-making is that 
derived from the Bhabur-grass [Ischemium angtis- 
tifolium) which grows in Northern and Central 
India. This fibre has already been used in several 
Indian paper-mills and found to be a satisfactory 
material for this purpose. 
An interesting account of a successful Agave 
plantation at Pawai, near Bombay, appears in 
the same number of the journal already referred 
to. This farm was started on land which had 
formerly been used for cultivating cocoa and 
coffee, but had long been abandoned and had run 
to waste. In this plantation, which is directed 
by Dr, Suter, the plants are cut when four years 
old, only the outer leaves being removed, and 
from these the fibre is immediately extracted by 
two special machines. The natives operating 
these machines have to be clothed in absorbent 
woollen cloth as a protection from the strongly 
vesicating sap of the leaves. A plentiful supply 
of water is necessary during the operation of 
extracting the fibre, as the latter, unless it is 
immediately well washed, turns brown on 
exposure to the air. Altogether, the plantation 
at Pawai gives employment to 250 natives who 
earn comparatively good wages. It is proposed 
to commence, in the near future, the manufacture 
of ammonia and manure from the waste material 
(amounting to about 97 per cent, of the whole) left 
after extraction of the fibre. 
As a method of utilising the coarser fibres 
obtained from the stems of trees paper-making 
seems to be the most satisfactory, and a recent 
number of the Indian Forester (Jan., 1901) 
contains an account of the native method of 
making paper from the inner bark of Broussonetia 
papyrtfera. The outer bark is first scraped away 
and then the inner layers peeled off in strips 
about five feet long which nre dried in the sun. 
These are next boiled in water containing wood 
ashes, and when they have become somewhat 
