( 17 ) 
Although the fibre is a valuable one, there will be 
difficulties at first in securing a market, particularly 
in the case of the small holder; but there is little 
doubt that, when it can be offered in commercial 
quantities, it will meet with a ready sale in the 
United Kingdom. 
KAPOK. 
(. Kabu-Kabu ). 
The cotton tree ( Eriodendron anfractuosum ) , known 
to the Malays as kabu-kabu or ka-kabu, is sufficiently 
familiar to residents in the Tropics ter need little 
description. The tree is readily recognisable by its 
tall straight trunk, bearing at intervals horizontal 
branches, which during the fruiting period are 
devoid of leaves. The value of the tree and its 
suitability for Malaya are less well-knowm facts. 
Kapok is used very extensively as a “ filler ” for 
mattresses, pillows and other articles of upholstery ; 
and, on account of its . buoyancy, and non-matting 
qualities, it is superior to almost any other filler. 
Moreover, if the kapok has become hard with much 
use, it rapidly regains its excellent properties when 
exposed to bright sunlight. Kapok has also found 
extended uses during recent years in life-saving 
apparatus, life-belts, buoyancy cushions and ocean 
jackets. Up to the present, kapok has not been 
found suitable for spinning, owing to its short fibre 
and extreme brittleness. 
Kapok is found in practically all tropical countries, 
but until recent years had not been considered a 
crop suitable for plantation conditions. Java sup- 
plies 80 per cent, of the world’s demand; the 
exports from that country in 1921 amounted to 
