Supplement to the " Tropkal AgricuUurisi." 
[May 1, 1900. 
b;i,sket.«, willies iiiid ( hong?, and all sorts of wicker 
ware. 
One specie! of r;it,r,iiu — 'iu; Cal'imus Draco — 
from which is exiriicre'l a red, resinous sub8t;uice, 
is eir)|iloyed f.)r meiliciu il pui-posti-. 
Frf)in is taken r.hn r.iUiiii med in making 
walltiiig st,ick? ; ir,s st,em i.s vi^i-y loni,', a little over 
0-39 inch in tliickncss, v. ith joint-. i9'G3 to 39 .'^7 
iiiche-i aparf. 
From Cocliio China and tlie Suitda Island* are 
annmlly exported l:nge qiiantiries of Calamus 
rudentum, one of tliu larj^^est kinds of rattan used 
for cables and '-opes. Its stem is very long and 
0*78 inch thick m-ir tiie middle, and from 1*37 to 
1'96 inches in the losrer part, its joints being often 
78'74 inches di'tant from ealh other. These 
natural cables are so resistant and strong that, it 
is said, they are ii«ed for capturing wild elephants. 
Strong and handsome walking sticks are made 
from this specie^, and also from the L'alamux 
Draco, the joints of the latter being from 59 to 62 
inches part. 
From the Siinda and Philippine ^^la^ds are taken: 
(1) the Calamus equestris, used in the manufacture 
of riding sticks, a species from 196 to 221 feet in 
length and no more than 0 39 inch in thickness, 
with its joints 7'87 iticlies apart ; (2) the Calamus 
viminalis, a species slimmer than the latter, which 
is used for wicker war©. 
The manufacturers of rattan in the consular dis- 
trict of Rheims buy their raw material in Germany 
and Holland, whither it is shipped from Dutcli 
India after a first preparation- 
First of all, the bark is taken off and is used for 
making seats of chairs. The core of the stem is 
then split into several thin pieces and rounded off, 
•when it is ready for making baskets. 
To whatever use the rattan is put, it must be 
first decorticated and scraped. If it is desired to 
bend or plait it, it is softened in hot water, to 
which is added muriatic acid. Thick rattan is 
bent with light saw cuts, as is done with ordinary 
mouldings. 
The output of the factories of this region is 
mostly consumed in the neighbouring territory 
and sold to wicker workers residing therein ; the 
balance is purchased by Paris and a few LoudoQ 
firms. 
There are only two important and well-known 
rattan factories iu this consular district which do 
a very good business. ' 
Raw rattan, token on board vessels in French 
ports, sells as follows : First quality $15'44, and 
second quality ftl3-51, per 100 kilograms (220,46 
pounds.) 
[The following are the species of Calamus (which 
belongs to the Palm family) found in Ceylon : 1, C. 
Thwaitsii ; 2, C. Pseudo-tenuis ; 3, C. Rotang ; 4, C. 
Eivalis ; 6, C. Delicatulus ; 6, C. Radiatus ; 7, C. 
Pachystemouus ; 8, C. Digitatus ; 9, C. Zeylanicus ; 
10, C. Ovoidens ; all of which except the second 
(also found in India) are endemic] 
CLASSIFICATION OF USEFUL FIBKES. 
{Continued.) 
The surface fibres are still more varied in form. 
They may be the elongated hairs surrounding the 
iadiTidual pods which icoutain th» single aeeda of 
the thistle, familiarly known as thistledown, or 
they may be the hairy growths covering the 
clusters of seeds contained within large pods, as 
the cotton bull, the pod of the milk weed, or the 
seed envelope of species of Bombax found in 
trcpicdl countries. In this group also is placed the 
lenf-scales or tomentum toundon the under surface 
of leaves, &c., or on the leaf buds of both ando- 
genous and ejcogenous plants, which can only be 
used for uphol tery oi- as tinder. Epidermal 
.3trips of palm leaves, raffia being an example, are 
also included with the surface fibres. 
The pseudo fibres are not fibre* but substances 
used as their substitutes. However, they are so 
cli^arly defined in tlie scheme ot classification, it 
will not be necessary to describe them further or 
to give example-. 
The highest use for which a fibre may be em- 
ployed is in the manufacture of cloth or woven 
fabric. As these fabrics vary greatly in texture 
from the fineness of the delicate linen cambric to 
the coarseness of jiite bagging, it would seem that 
a large number of fibres might be considered 
spinnable forms and capable of manufacture. In 
point of fact, however, a comparatively small 
number are actually .spun and woven as com- 
mercial articles, these having proved their 
superior adaptability for special purposes for 
which they are employed, and the form and ap- 
pearance of the difEerent manufuctures from them 
having become in a measure so fixed that change 
could not be made without serious result. And, 
beside?, it should be recognised that such change 
might necessitate complete cnange in the entire 
system of textile machinery employed in a special 
industry. Examples of the fabric fibres of the 
first rank are China grass (bast fibre), pine- 
apple (structural fibre), and cotton (surface fibre); 
of the second rank, jute (bast fibre) and coir 
or coconut (structural fibre). The fabric fibres 
are, therefore, easilj'^ disposed of, and we come to 
the next of the higher uses in which fibres are 
employed, the manufacture of threads, twines, 
cords, and ropes, or, reduced to a term, cordage. 
The fibres employed for this group of manufactures 
include all the spinning and weaving fibres, which 
for the most part are employed in the manu- 
facture ot thread and fine twines, and a large 
number of coarser fibres, which also have their 
substitutes, for the manufacture of which ordinary 
systems of cordage machinery are generally 
adapted. In this group must also be included a 
still larger number of " native " fibres, or thos* 
which are extracted, prepared, and rudely spun or 
wrought into ropes by hand by the natives of the 
countries where they are produced, the finer kinds 
being used for sewing thread, fish lines, nets, 
and hammocks. Even the group of native fibres 
used for cordage is capable of subdivision into 
prepared fibrous material for spinning and twisting, 
and unprepared bark, or the whole stems or leaves 
of plants or bundles of unprepared bast, simply 
twisted together to form a veiy rough rope or cablt. 
Such cordage has been largely used in South 
America and in India in the construction of rope 
bridges. Examples of the cordage fibres are: 
Commercial — for threads, flax (bust fibre) ; for 
twines, common hemp (structural fibre); Native — 
for fine twiues,,jfi8h lines, &c., Indian hemp (or 
Apocymm) (bast fibre) ; for ropes, the YuccM 
