Jan.  I,  1896. |_ 
THK  TROPICAL  AC5R1CULTURIST. 
439 
fibre  iiiaclnnc  is  given  in  tlic  “ Ivcw  r>nnctiii,  " pp. 
Jlr.'n-itins  hemp  is  n >t  'arge'y  used  for  covd-^ge 
pni.poses.  It  has  speeiii  iiypl’raiioii  ; 11  .accnuat'id’ 
ii-r.  fineness  and  instre,  and  is  ai’.'.'.  a ;n,-.i  fr.r  • i-'.ui- 
mental  parpnsea.  T:  e prices  have  Ijeen  well  main- 
tained, in  spile  of  tiie  depressed  condition  of  most 
fibrous  substances  during  the  last  two  years.  In 
March,  1895,  the  quotations  were Good  white, 
21s.  to  24s.  per  cwt. ; fair,  17s.  to  18s.;  common, 
14s.’'  The  imports  in  1893  were  1,375  tons;  in  1891, 
684  tons. 
<ii(jantca  has  been  largely  planted  at  the 
island  of  xVnguilla  in  the  Leeward  Islands,  under  the 
direction  of  Sir  William  Haynes  Smitli,  k.c.?i.(t. 
The  plantation  is  adout  350  acres  in  e.'itent,  and 
the  first  crop  of  loaves  will  be  shortly  harve-tod. 
Should  the  price  of  Mauritius  hemp  be  maintained, 
the  Anguilla  pla.ntation  is  likely  to  be  very  successful. 
Silk  Gn.iss. 
Although  this  term  is  sometimes  applied  to  some 
species  of  lUomdia,  it  is  more  genernllj'  apn'iod  Pi 
lurenva  cuhp.nsu,  one  of  the  “green  aloes,”  very 
similar  in  appearance  to  the  plant  yielding  Mauritius 
hemp.  It  is  a native  of  tropical  America,  and  is 
cultivated  in  Jamaica  and  Tobago  as  a fibre  plant. 
The  leaves  are  5 to  6 feet  long,  usually  armed  with 
strong  prickles,  but  sometimes  unarmed  (as  in  the 
vai'ietv  inennia),  ov  with  few  prickles.  * he  vield  of 
fibre  is  at  the  rate  of  2-5  to  3T5  per  cm  . Sunoles 
of  silk  gra.ss  fibre  fr,  m .Tfimaie  i \ . , .. 
1884,  a'  £27  p.  r t'  n,  ;tid  rep.,.  s u).; 
to  Sisal.”  Anoti.er  species,  Fiuci-ua  .-icUoa,  witn 
leaves  3 to  5 feet  long,  armed  with  brown  horny 
teeth,  is  plenti  ul  in  Ceylon,  but  apparently  scarce 
elsewhere.  The  fibre  yielded  by  it  is  very  similar 
to  that  of  /''.  cu^Kinais.  Unlike  the  latter, ' however, 
it  has  10  unarmed  variety,  and  is  therefore  not 
likely  to  be  widely  cultivated  for  fibre  purposes. 
New  Zeal.vnd  PiioitHtUH  Fiintn. 
The  plant  yielding  this  interesting  fibre  {Phoriiiium 
tp.naa-)  is  very  variable.  It  belongs  to  the  liliaceous 
order,  and  h is  very  long,  sword-like  leaves,  growing 
in  opposite  rows,  and  clasping  each  ofher'at  the 
base  Th' re  are  two  well-marked  varieties.  One 
has  leaves  ,5  to  10  feet  long,  bright  green  above, 
glaucom  beneath,  with  the  flowers  red;  the  other 
has  shorter  leaves,  with  the  flower.s  yellow.  The 
flowering  stem  is  large,  and  alternately  branc'  ed. 
It  rises  out  of  the  centre  of  the  leaves,  reaching  a 
height  of  12  to  16  feet.  The  I'ruit  is  a three-valued 
capsule,  containing  two  rows  of  small,  Ihittmied 
black  seeds. 
The  Maoris  are  said  to  recognise  about  55  sorts 
of  the  Phormium  plant  to  which  distinct  names  are 
given.  The  accepted  number  amongst  Europ  ans  is 
mucli  less.  Eacli  shoot  has  live  leaves,  and  ahont 
ten  shoots  go  to  a clamp  ; there  are  therefore  about 
.50  leaves  in  a clump.  Excepti'.nally  the  leaves  may 
be  10  feet  high,  but  usually  they  are  from  5 feet 
to  7 feet  bigo.  So  far  the  I’horminm  plant  is  not 
regularly  cultivated’  The  fibre  is  prepared  wholly 
from  wild  or  semi-wild  plants.  It  is  recommended 
to  start  p'antations  under  favourable  conditions,  and 
make  Phormium  one  of  the  established  crops  of  the 
country.  Hy  such  means  it  is  anticipated  that  the 
leaves  will  be  more  uniform  in  character,  an  I capable 
of  yielding  a better  class  of  fibre. 
Phormium  has  been  the  subject  of  extensive 
invejiigation  in  New  Zealand  for  many  yca  ’S.  Num- 
erous experiments  have  been  undertaken  uitli  the 
view  of  improving  the  methods  of  preparation,  and 
extending  the  application  of  the  fibie.  The  lesu  ts 
have  not  been  succes.sful.  Tiie  subject  is  still  • ccupy- 
ing  the  serious  attention  of  ihe  New  Zealand  Govern- 
ment. In  1893  the  follo’.vi  g picminms  weic  offeied  ; — 
(1)  .£'  1,750  tor  improvements  m mechiiiery  which  will 
materially  rediice  the  cost  of  production  of  commercial 
fibre;  (2)  £‘J50  for  a process  for  utilising  the  waste 
products  of  the  industry.  The  resuUs  of  (be  trials 
in  CO  nection  with  those  premiums  liavo  not  yi-t  been 
published.  It  is  prol.ahle  that  experiments  carried  on 
in  this  couii'ry  with  fresh  leaves  would  be  more 
8Uccessf.1l.  It  is  to  b'c  expected  that  the  conditions 
in  New  Zealand,  in  a Comparatively  new  community. 
devoted  chiefly  to  agricultural  pursuits,  are  not  so 
favourable  for  inventions  as  in  the  large  manufactur- 
ing c.  n.re.s  of  Pugland.  A suggestion  on  this  point 
is  oiTi'i’i'd  later 
J.’:  may  bo  ueutioned  that  the  fibre  of  Phormium 
is  iietini-r  a fl  ix  tmr  a hemp  in  the  usual  acceptation. 
It  would  be  more  correct  to  call  it  simply  “ Phormium 
fii)re.’  It  is  one  of  tlio  oldest  exports  of  New  Zealand. 
Between  1828  and  1832,  although  New  Zealand  was 
then  vi.sited  only  by  whalers  and  a few  traders, 
110  less  than  £59,000  worth  was  sli  pped  to  Sydney 
alone.  .Vt  tint  time  the  Maori  hand-dressed  fibre 
fetched  a high  nrice  in  the  English  market,  under 
the  name  of  “ New  Zealand  flax.'’  The  Maoris  were 
careful  in  tlie  selection  of  the  leaves,  taking  only 
those  in  which  tiie  fibre  was  properly  ripened, 
instead  of  cutting  over  the  whole  plant  indis- 
criminately and  at  all  seasons.  Machine-dressed 
fibre  did  not  come  into  commerce  until  1861 , and 
then  only  to  supp’y  ihe  deficiency  in  Mauila  for  rope- 
making.  It  is  estimated  that  an  acre  will  vdeld 
ab:"i:  ten  tons  of  sun-dried  leaves,  and  that  the 
us’  al  yield  of  fibre  is  at  the  rate  of  12  cwt.  per 
acre.  Phormium  is  pre-eminent  for  its  high  yield 
of  fibre  ; this  is  at  the  rate  of  15  to  20  per  cent, 
of  green  leaves.  The  old  Maori  fibre  was  so  well 
prepar-  d that  it  was  capable  of  being  made  into 
damask  and  towelling  equal  to  fairly  good  linen. 
Specimens  of  these  are  in  the  Kew  Museum.  The 
m ‘cl’.hie- !• -"i-ied  fibre  is  defective  in  many  respects, 
I ;!  -.i5  ■ ; 'll  ;v  for  the  manufacture  of  twine 
to-.  '•  ini -L'  , bi  iding  iii.achhias.  It  is  felt  that 
the  iuli  value  of  the  fibre  can  only  *be  obtained  by 
the  use  of  a combined  scraping  and  chemical  process 
applied  to  carefully  selected  and  properly  matured 
leaves.  Tiiis  is  well  brought  out  in  the  following 
extract  front  the  “ New  Zeala”.d  Official  Year  Book  ” 
for  1844  : — 
“The  ;greatest  improvement  of  the  present  system 
will  be  effected  by  the  cultivation  and  careful  selec- 
tion of  the  leaves,  and  by  the  substituti  n of  a 
chemical  retting  process  for  the  prolonged  owashing 
and  siin-bleaching  whi'-h  at  present  obtain 
The  sodic-.sulph  ite  process  suggested  by  Mr.  Cross 
appears  to  be  the  most  promising.  The  advantage 
of  this  process  over  any  other  is  the  very  higlt  yield 
of  fibre  it  achieves,  which  exceeds  one-fourth  of  the 
weight  of  the  green  leaf,  no  other  process  having 
yielded  more  than  one-sixth.  The  quality  of  the 
fibre  produced  resem'-tles  the  native-made  fibre  in 
lustre  and  strength.  For  the  future,  if  the  phor- 
mium plant  is  10  become  a suirce  of  fibre  supply 
fnv  the  world'  iiiarkot,  its  culiivatii>u  must  be  es- 
tabiisiicd  in  favourable  situations.  The  natural 
-up 'ly  is  now  dilficult  to  collect,  and  still  more 
difficult  to  renew  and  perpetuate.” 
The  shipmcnia  of  Phormiurn  are  variable.  Owing 
to  the  iinproved  demand  for  fibres  generally,  the 
number  of  Phormium  mills  in  New  Zealand  in- 
creased from  30  in  1886,  to  177  in  1891.  The  ap- 
proxiina'c  value  of  the  industry  during  the  same 
peiiod  increased  from  £ 13.094  to  234,266. 
The  exports  of  Phormium  for  1881,  and  for  the 
years  1888-93,  showing  the  quantities  and  values, 
were  as  follows; — 
rear 
1881 
1888 
1889  
1890  
1891  
1892  
1893. 
1,308 
4,0-42 
17,084 
21,158 
15,809 
12,793 
12,587 
26,285 
75,269 
361,182 
381,789 
281,514 
214,542 
219,375 
The  fignros  since  1893  have  shown  a remarkable 
falling  off  ill  exports  both  to  this  country  and 
America.  The  latter  imported  only  7,000  bales  in 
18.'4,  as  against  70,9-15  in  189.3, 
A careful  investigation  of  Phormium  fibre  was  under- 
taken by  Mr,  Cross  in  1886.  The  results  are  pub- 
lished in  the  Keports  of  the  Royal  Commission  of 
the  Colonial  and  Indian  Exhibition,  1887,  pp.  373-376. 
As  compared  with  Irish  flax  Phormium  fibre  con- 
tains a lower  per-oentage  of  cellulose,  the  actu.al 
figures  bei.ig,  Irish  flax  80’2  per  c.mt.,  Phormium 
65’7  per  cent.  This  cellulose  in  Phormium  is  alsg 
