1 Ocr., 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 293 
Jadoo can be used many times over; in fact, it has not yet been ascer- 
tained when it becomes exhausted. This is a great point in its favour, and 
tends materially to reduce its original cost. When taken from a pot, all that 
is necessary is to spread out the fibre in a box and expose it to the air for afew 
days to sweeten it; then water 1t with liquid Jadoo at a streneth of 1 in 20 of 
water until sufficient moisture has been absorbed to restore it to its original 
weight (about 35 lb. per bushel). It may then be used as at first. 
What Jadoo really is, we know no more than the reader. We merely 
make mention of it, as we do of many new ideas, in the hope that some enter- 
prising person will make experiments for the benefit of others. 
Tropical Industries. 
GROWING AND SEPARATION OF FIBRE, NORTH QUEENSLAND. 
By E. COWLEY, 
Manager, State Nursery, Kamerunga. 
Fourcroya gigantea and Agave sisalana have been treated of in preceding 
articles. These plants were introduced for their fibre-producing qualities ; 
but there are a number of introduced and indigenous fibre plants that flourish 
most abundantly, and often harmfully, in Queensland. Doubtless members 
of town councils and divisional boards are at their wits’ end to know what to 
do in regard to the so-called Chinese Burr (Triumfetta pilosa) and Urena 
lobata, both of which are said to have been introduced by the Chinese, or, 
at all events, from China. This, however, does not seem to be the truth. 
Our Colonial Botanist, in his Catalogue of Queensland Plants, mentions five 
varieties of Triumfetta, only one of which (Triumfetta rhomboidea) has been 
introduced, and which Mr. Bailey says was probably introduced by the 
Chinese. 
Urena lobata, the other burr, bears a pink flower, and, according to 
Mr. Bailey, appears to be indigenous. It is mentioned in the Dictionary of 
Gardening as “inhabitating the tropical regions of both hemispheres.”’ 
Each of the above plants produces abundance of good fibre. Specimens 
may be seen in the Museum of the Department of Agriculture, Brisbane. 
In places where these plants have become such a pest—as in the Cairns and 
Barron Divisional Board domains—it would surely be wise to get a machine, 
and make what is at present a source of real vexation and distress to the 
residents of these divisions into a marketable commodity, thus relieving the 
ratepayers, and probably adding a nice sum to the divisional revenue. 
As it is, the probable cost of a machine would not be more than the 
present mode of cutting down the plants after they have seeded, and burning 
them off. Itis presumed that after a few years both Triumfetta pilosa and 
Beers lobata will die out after having exhausted their required elements from 
the soil. 
From a fibre-extractor’s point of view, both these plants produce excellent 
long stalks, suitable for easy manipulation. 
The natural order Malvacew gives a number of fibre plants, among which 
is the well-known Sida rhombifolia or retusa. It has been a question as 
to whether this plant is indigenous to Queensland or not. The name Sidawas 
used by Theophrastus for the waterlily. Itis a genus comprising a large 
number of herb shrubs. About eight inhabit the warmer parts of Africa and 
Asia, thirteen are: indigenous to Australia, and the rest are American. Sida 
retusa is undoubtedly a pest, especially if it gets a foothold in pasture lands. 
