The Fibrous Plants of Dominica. 309 
suckers shoot up from the trunk ; these suckers give the 
best Mahout. 
6th The Fibre of the Mahout Floue, or corkwood tree. 
This tree is commonly found on the Island, and the 
Mahout is got from its bark. The bark however should be 
removed before the tree seeds. When about eight vears 
old it seeds. Trees of about three years old are the best 
size to bark. As each tree from which Mahout is taken is 
hereby destroyed, in order to propagate the plant afew trees 
would have to be left, and allowed to go to seed. They 
then attain a large size, about 30ft. high, and 20 inches 
diameter. The seeds are contained in pods 9 or 10 
inches long, and J in. diameter; each of these pods 
contains a good many seeds, the size of No. 1 gun shot, 
which are encased in silky cotton, something like the 
silk-cotton. The cotton is a brownish yellow colour, 
very soft, but too brittle to be of value to the spinner. 
7th. The Fibre of the Bois Canou. The Bois Canou is 
one of the forest trees of Dominica, and is of the fig 
genus. The Mahout is obtained from the bark, and has 
to be taken when the trees are quite young. The reason 
why all the Mahouts have to be got from young trees is, 
as follows: — the Mahout is only the fibrous inner por- 
tions of the bark, and if the trees are old or full 
grown it is difficult to part the fibres from the ex- 
ternal layers, and the fibres themselves are hard and brittle 
then, which is not the case if removed before the trees 
have flowered. In some cases the bark cannot be re- 
moved at all in any serviceable lengths and is therefore 
useless as fibre. The culture of the Bois Canou would be 
affected by the difficulty of obtaining the seeds, which 
are contained in a fruit very like what is known as the 
