April  i,  1897.J  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICaLTQRIST, 
721 
BOWSTRING  HEMP. 
The  |)lanb  whiuh  yields  this  libi'e  is  kiiowa 
1) joanically  as  Snu'seuiera  Zeiilaiiica,  and  to  the 
Natives  of  Ceylon  as  “ Niyanda.”  The  (i'ore  is 
l:ir.i;ely  use  I by  blis  Kan  lyan  people  in  the 
miking  of  line  coloured  whips  and  mats,  and 
for  such  purposes  the  work  of  extraction  is 
d sne  by  manna!  labour.  Some  attempts  have 
been  male  to  grow  the  plant  coinniereially  and 
for  ex[)ort,  and  notably  by  Mr.  C.  Shand  who,  in 
the  time  of  coll'ee  depre.ssion,  worked  up  Sanse- 
viera  among  other  fibres  but  could  not  get  it  to 
give  a prolitablc  yield  of  clean  fibre.  It  should 
be  mentioned,  however,  that  Mr.  Shand  used  a 
self-made  and  comparatively  crude  machine  for 
cxtiMcrion  and  that  this  fact  may  account  for 
Ids  failure  to  grow  the  plant  remuneratively. 
Sauseviera  is  once  more  brought  to  the  notice 
of  tropical  jilanters  and  this  time  as  a second 
or  catch  crop  on  tea-land,  to  be  grown  on  those 
pirtionsof  estates  not  required  and  not  suitable 
for  tea.  In  this  connection  it  forms  the  subject 
of  a bulletin,  issued  by  the  Government  of 
India,  as  one  of  their  useful  Agricultural  Ledger 
series  of  pulrlications.  It  is  universally  admitted, 
says  the  bulletin,  that  such  a crop  is  much 
needed,  and  considerable  attention  has,  of  late, 
been  given  to  the  subject,  with  the  result  that 
Bowstring  Hemp  may  possibly  come  to  be  so 
cultivated.  Rhea  libre  has  also  been  si)okeu  of 
as  a secou  lary  crop  to  tea,  but  Dr.  \Vatt, 
Iteporter  on  Economic  Products  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  India,  states  that  there  is  room  fur 
botli  fibres,  that  some  districts  might  find  Bow- 
string Hemp  more  convenient  and  equally  pro- 
fitable to  rhea,  and  that  these  are  fibres  which 
will  meet  indenendent  demands  and  can  never 
enter  into  competition. 
On  sample.s  of  Indian  San.seviera  fibre  being  sub- 
mitted last  year  to  Mr.  T.  H.  Cliristy,  he  valued 
the  stufi"  at  £16  to  £17  per  ton,  but  added  that 
ha  I the  colour  been  bright  whice  instead  of  j'^ellow 
he  would  have  put  down  the  value  at  £2J  ])ar  ton. 
“ I'liis  libre,”  he  remsi-ks,  “will  sell  easily.” 
Mr.  C.  E.  Col  Iyer,  Reporter  on  fibres  to  the 
Imperial  Institute,  states  that  with  the  present 
1)W  m irket  for  fibres  lijwstring  Hsmp  equal  to 
the  Indian  sa!U[)les  will  not  fetch  more  than 
£23  [)er  ton  in  London,  but  when  more  carefully 
))repared  and  of  the  usual  good  strength  and 
colour  the  value  will  probably  be  ,£2o  and  up- 
wards. In  a subsequent  report,  IMr.  Collyer 
adds  that  the  quality  of  the  fibre  will  be  much 
improved  by  the  use  of  suitable  decorticating 
machines  and  so  far  as  any  fibre  has  come  to 
market  the  best  results  have  been  from  the  im- 
proved “ W.  E.  Death”  machine  which  turns  out 
about  6 cwt.  per  day  at  a cost  at  least  as  small 
as  by  any  other  system-  Another  important  re- 
mark miile  by  Mr.  Collyer  is  to  the  effect  that 
•soil  and  climate  have  much  to  do  with  the  quality 
of  the  fibre  as  also  does  the  choice  of  the  right 
variety  of  Sauseviera. 
As  regartls  cultivation  a note  by  a West  Indian 
pi, inter  is  the  only  inform  ition  which  the  bulletin 
under  review  records.  It  appears  that  the  plant 
grows  best  in  moderate  shade  in  black  soil  ; the 
propagation  is  easy  from  either  cutting  from  stems 
or  from  roots  ; the  plains  should  be  about  LS'' 
apart,  and  IS”  between  the  rows;  the  soil  should 
be  moist  but  not  wet  ; growth  is  much  more 
ru})id  under  shade  than  in  the  hot  sun,  ami  the 
(juility  ot  the  fibre  is  better.  The  plants 
are  s I'.d  to  be  re.idy  for  cutting  in  from  9 to 
12  m ).ii.iii  and  may  be  cut  at  any  season, 
c-scjpo  a:.'-*r  a long  drought  when  the 
fibre  is  apt  to  bo  harsh  and  tender.  The 
plaits  attain  nearly  double  the  height  in  blac*^ 
soil  ami  shade  compared  with  red  .soil  and  in  tfie 
sun  an  I tlie  fibre  of  the  freely  growing  plant  i.s 
naturally  much  superior.  Authoritie.s,  however 
wmld  seem  to  differ  a.s  to  the  time  when  the 
first  crop  could  be  taken,  some  being  of  opinion 
that  the  first  crop  should  not  be  taken  till  after 
3 years,  while  others  give  12  months  as  the  time. 
In  a communication  to  the  Ivew  J-lulletin  3 000 
jilants  per  acre  is  given  as  the  rate  of  ijlantinc^ 
that  IS  planting  3'  by  3',  making  allowance  for 
roa  Is,  Ac.  Tfie  estimates  of  crop  also  natiirallv 
differ  to  some  extent.  Some  authorities  say  that 
4')  lb.  of  fresh  leaves  31  to  4 ft.  loim  <>-ive  1 I'b 
ut  clean  fibre  or  over  1,630  lb.  per  acriT  per  cron 
—two  croiis  being  got  in  a year.  Roxburgh  es- 
tiinntos  tlie  cro[)  obDH.ini\blG  for  one  aero  at  1 613 
lb.  and  that  two  such  crops  could  be  got  in  a year 
iioni  gooil  soil  iti  fav'oiirable  seasons  and  witli 
plants  of  the  proper  age,  that  is  U ton  per 
acre  per  annum  at  the  end  of  3 or  years.  * 
Sauseviera  Zeijiajiica  grows  luxuriantly  in  a 
wild  condition  in  many  of  the  forests  in  Cevlon 
rom  whence  it  is  collected  by  the  natives 
tor  snch  local  manufactures  as  those  already  re- 
ferred  to.  A trial  with  the  plant  on  stiff  soil  in 
the  Matale  district  proved  a failure,  nor  did 
experiments  with  this  and  other  varieties  of 
banseviera  on  .sandy  soil  and  in  the  open  succeed 
on  the  premises  o the  Agricultural  School  in 
Coloiubo-results  which  go  to  support  the  opinion 
of  the  M e.<t  Indian  planter  recorded  above  that 
the  pfant  afiects  shady  localities  and  vegetable 
soils,  (conditions  which  are  present  in  "forest 
lands)  the  .Superintendent  of  the  A^^rieultimal 
School  in  1S96  had  .some  rope  made  oSt  of  fib?e 
extiacted  from  Sanseviera  which  was  obtained 
fiom  the  kuriinegala  district,  and  submitted  a 
opinion  through  the 
G own  Agents  for  Ceylon.  The  report  of  Mr 
ihonias  Briggs_(which  was  published  in  the  T 
A of  Oct.  1-S9,i)  was  to  the  following  effect  •— 
‘ riie  ropes  or  better  calleil  lines  look  very  well  and 
would  sed  here  as  they  are  if  snippeif  in  cMls^ 
All  these.  Nos.  1 and  2 {Sanseviera  ZeyUinica  and 
l<oHrc)oija  (riijantca)  are  worth  about  £20  per  ton 
delivered  in  London.”  pei  ton 
3Ve  have  no  doubt  that  some  of  our  enterpris 
ing  planters  wi  1 be  inclined  to  give  a fair  trial 
to  bin.seviera  as  “second  fiddle”  to  tea  after 
having  satisfied  themselves  by  reference  'to  tbo 
D.rector  U.o  Pe,acle„iya  m = 
I.est  variety  of  the  plant,  from  an  economic 
'S  id’s  i”  tl.e  lower  ea 
J^NAAD  PLANTERS’  ASSOCIATION 
We  e.xtract  the  following  from  the  minutes  of 
Mlrdrla'"!*''’’"' 
Coffee  Pisses.— Road  semi-official  from 
inten  leat  of  Police  M.ilabar,  pomting  out  hof 
important  it  is  that  p isses  should  b^a  always 
ra-ely  mide  out,  as  tbe  system  of  nasses  fa  a 
tor  111  the  preveutioiiof  Coffee  stealing  nn  n ^*^5' 
which  planters  would  do  wall  to  make  the 
sigua^tuTtom^tinLsTh^  'cltte^rrl-omf  oU 
OuxraiiN  OF  Coffee.— Read  f 
lake  R.N.  The  Hiuorafy 
to  tbi.ik  Oipt.  Oirslake  for  hr'leimr 
out  that  Europeans  are  emoloved 
measurement  of  coffee  in  the  enrini 
that  seamless  bags  are  obtainable  thrSiigrthea'gems^ 
