Dec. 1, 1897.] 
Supplement to the ^'■Iropical Agriculturist.''^ 
441 
and we therefore give the following references 
to the subject : — 
The bast yields a strong useful fibre of a 
white colour, which is long and silky, generally 
strong and pliant, and composed of very strong 
individual fibres. It is employed economically 
in some parts of India, but in many districts 
where the plant is much grown as a vegetable, 
the excellence of the fibre seems to be unrecog- 
nised. It is undoubtedly valuable and seems 
to possess qualities specially fitting it for the 
purpose of paper-making. According to Eoxburgh 
its breaking strain is 79 lb. when dry, 95 lb. 
when wet. It contains 74 per cent of cellulose, 
and in Messrs, Cross, Bevan & King’s experi- 
ments it was found to lose 9'8 and 14 -2 per 
cent of its weight when boiled in 1 per cent 
solution of caustic soda for five minutes and 
one hour respectiveljn The average yield of 
fibre by Death and Ellwood’s process was found 
to be 84| lb. per acre, while by retting it 
amounted to 6 maunds and 17 seers. (The acre 
yield of fibre by the same process from Hibiscus 
abelmoschus, Sinhalese “ Kapu Kii.issa ” w'as 800 
lb. by retting 12 maunds and 17 seers; the 
average breaking weight of the fibre whether 
wet or dry being 107 Ib.j. Liotard in his Paper- 
making 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. In Burma, Madras and other parts of 
India, the stem is allowed to rot unused. This 
valuable fibre which could thus be obtained very 
cheaply does not appear to attract the atten- 
tion that it merits. (iJr. Watt.) 
The okro (Hibiscus esculentus J \ms, long been 
known to yield a long silky fibre. Specimens 
of Indian okro fibre in the Kew Museums re- 
semble hemp in colour and texture. It is 
evidently well adapted for making ropes, twine, 
and sacking, while the residual portion can le 
utilized for paper-making. 
Kecently the preparation and use of okro 
fibre has been revived in the Souli.ern United 
States, where the plant is largely grown during 
the summer season, and also in Cuba. In a 
report by Mr. Consul Kamsden the following 
information is furnished; “The fruit is well-known 
in 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 the plant as being applicable 
to rope making, I am unawai*e that it has been 
used ns a fibre, and, therefore, refer to it here. 
Last year Messrs. Bosch & Co., of this city, 
made an experiment with fome, and sent 400 
pounds of the dried fibre to London, w'here they 
say it was much liked, and found to be worth 
£40 i)er ton. Three crops are obtained in the 
year, and its preparation by maceration gave 
very little trouble. The stem produces a fibre 
of fine quality, and about 4 feet in length, and 
apparently strong. Further trials will probably 
be made here. I send sample of it with this 
report.” With regard to the commercial value 
of this Cuban fibre, Messr,=. Ide & Christy of 
72, Mark Lane, E.C., to whom it was referred 
reported ns follows : “ The sample shows the fibre 
to be only moderately stronger that jute, im- 
perfectly cleaned and very yellow in colour. 
We value it at £18 to £20 per ton today in 
London. It is po.^sible that the colour could 
be greatly im])roved by more careful 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.” 
( Keiv Bulletin, No. 46.^ 
We find the following reference made by us 
to Bandnkai fibre in our issue of September 
1893: Within the past few years, says the Auck- 
land Weeklg News, much attention has been given 
to okra as a fibre plant in the Southern States 
of America. Mills are said to have been erected 
in England as v\’ell as in Germany and France 
by a Mr. Sadlow, for -wmiking up the raw 
muteiial, which he says he can produce at ^d, 
per lb. This information came oiiginally from 
an American source, and may of course be over- 
drawn, but one fact is clear, and that is that the fibre 
referred to is a valuable one and its production, 
cost and value are worth careful enquiry. In an 
official report on the cultivation of jute and other 
fibres. Hibiscus esculentus is referred to thus: 
The fibre is harsh and brittle for which reason 
it is not manufactured to any large extent in 
Bengal, but in Alymen Singh and Dacca it is 
occasionally prepared for adulteration with jute. 
The defect in the fibre it would seem is due 
to the process adopted in making it, for in the 
Southern Fre.sidency it is so manufactured as 
to retain considerable strength and pliancy, 
well-suited to the manufacture of rope, string, 
gunny bags and paper, and bearing considerable 
resemblance to the true hemp of Europe. The 
quantity prepared annually is large, and there 
is an exportation calculated many years ago at 
belwten 6,000 and 7,000 cwt., and valued at 
between £27,000 and £28,000. 
SERUM INOCULATION FOR RINDERPEST, 
Of the two methods recommended by Prof. 
Koch— the serum treatment and the bile treat- 
ment— for inoculating cattle with the object of 
rendering them immune against rinderpest, it 
would appear that the former will prove to 
be the most effective. Space does not admit 
of our referring to the difficulties which stand in 
the way of carrying out Koch’s method of treat- 
ment with bile, or of de.-ciibing Dr. Edington’s 
improved method of using glycerinated bile 
(both of which when properly carried out have 
without doubt been the means of saving much 
loss of lifej, but we must not omit to quote 
the important communication made by the 
Colonial Veterinary Surgeon of the Cape with 
reference to the serum treatment: — ■ 
Professor K'.ch, in the early stages of his 
e.xperiments at Kimberley, verified the fact already 
discovered, that serum obtained from salted cattle 
gave an immunity from linderpest when injected 
