220 
20. You were also furnished by the Secretary of State for the 
Report on sam- Colonies with a report on samples of P,ira rubber 
pies uf Para rub- prepared by me and valued by Messrs. Hecht, 
ber - Levis and Kahn, at the request of Sir W. T. Th ISLE- 
TON Dyer, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This report 
should be very encouraging to planters of the Para rubber tree, the 
best samples being valued at 4.?. 4 d. per tb. against 3^. Sd. for 
“fine Para,” and should settle the question once and for all as to 
whether the product of the cultivated tree can compete with the 
Para rubber of commerce of the present dav. 
21. Other experiments on the extraction of the latex are being 
Other experi- continued and when sufficient data are to hand a 
meats. further report on the subject will be made. 
STANLEY ARDEN, 
Superintendent , Experi mental Plan tations. 
Bat u Tiga, j/st March, /903. 
SANSEVIERA CULTIVATION IN SELANGOR 
The following correspondence from the Director of the Imperial 
Institute will be read with interest. '1 he Sansevieras of which 
there are several kinds are well known ornamental plants of the 
order Liliace a\ They possess an under ground creeping stem 
from which they send up stiff smooth leaves often ornamentally 
barred grey and green. The one referred to here has narrow lan- 
ceolate acute leaves 2 feet or more long and about if inch across, 
transversely barred with deep green and grey, and it is from these 
leaves that the fibre is prepared. The flowerspike is tall and bears 
numerous white flowers resembling those of a Dracaena, and even- 
tually orange juicy fruits. 
The plant grows best here in rather rocky soil and is cultivated 
in India and also in Florida, and is often known as Bowstring 
Hemp. It is very commonly cultivated here as an ornamental 
plant. 
It is propagated by root cuttings and also in Florida by leaf 
cuttings. Sections of leaves 4 inches long are made and inserted 
into boxes of earth to a depth of about 2 inches. The soil must be 
moderately dry or the plants will rot. The box is placed in a 
moderately shady place and in a few weeks time put out roots, and 
eventually suckers. It requires good rich soil and takes about two 
years to acquire its full growth. 
Dr. HARRIS of Florida states that Sanseviera will after it is well 
established afford a crop of 5 tons'of clean fibre per acre valued at 
100 dollars (American) a ton, and selecting a few square feet 
where the growth was thickest in his estate, cut and cleaned the 
leaves and found it gave at the rate of 13^ tons per acre. How- 
ever as Prof. Dodge (Report on the Leaf fibres of the Cnited States, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture 1893) points out this estimate is 
