Ocymum pilosum [basilicum].—Exogen. Common all over N. India, and grown almost everywhere in Bengal, for its seeds. It is cultivated to a sma]l extent in the western portion of the Hooghly district, on account of the strong fibre it yields for rope-making. The rope can be used only in the dry season, as it rots in the rains. The fibre might be available for paper-stock.
oJnoearpus Bacaba.—Endogen ; palm. Native of the W. Indies. This tree yields a fibre from the base of the leaf-stalks, much resembling piassava.
Orthanthera viminea.=Exogen ; 10 ft. This plant grows luxuriantly along the foot of the Himalayas. The fibres of the stem are very tenacious and long, and appear to be well adapted for rope-making.
Pachyrrhizus angulatus.—Exogen. A native of Central America; found everywhere within the tropics; proves hardy at Sydney. Requires a rich soil. Stems yield a tough fibre.
Pandanus odoratissimus. — Caldera bush, Screw-pine. — Endogen; bushy shrub, 10-30 ft. This plant is found abundantly in Bengal, Madras, Burma, the Straits Settlements, China, and the South Sea Islands. It grows wild in marshy places, and, in the Sunderbuns, is so abundant as to form impenetrable thickets on the sides of the creeks. It is somewhat slow of growth. The leaves, spathes, and aerial roots abound in good strong fibre.
P. utilis, the Vacoa, a Madagascar species, has leaves similar to the foregoing; in Mauritius, they are cut every year, after the plant is 3 years old, and are split into ribbons, measuring -1 in. broad at the base, and tapering to a point. These strips are plaited, to form sacks, for the transport of sugar, each plant yielding about enough material for two sacks. In 1871, Mauritius exported 285,075 such bags, valued at 33941.; in 1874, the figures were 154,578, 18781.
The leaves are also made into matting, baskets, hats, and thatch, and are used for cordage and other purposes in the South Sea Islands. The root-fibres are much stronger than those from the leaves, and are occasionally used for makiug cordage, and for admixture with jute in gunny bags. Samples of the leaf-fibres, exposed for 2 hours to steam at 2 atmos., then boiled for 3 hours, and again steamed for 4 hours, lost 12.21 per cent, by weight, while Manilla hemp lost only phormium, 6.14; hemp, 6.18-8.44. This shows its inferiority to these fibres for rope-making. Both roots
and leaves would probably afford excellent paper-stock.
Other species are P. edulis, P. candelabrum, P. pedunculatus, P. spiralis.
Pederia fcetida—Bedolee sutta.--Exogen; creeper. A native of Assam; it is abundant in the jungles, but the best fibre is obtained from plants growing on the alluvial deposits of rivers, as on the banks of the Brahmaputra. Another species or variety climbs trees; but its fibre is inferior. The plant could doubtless be cultivated; moreover, the supply of wild plants would not readily be exhausted, as on the plains, where they thrive best, the grass is burnt down annually, and, during the rains, the roots throw up fresh shoots. The proper time for collecting the plant is the cold or dry season; during the rains, the fibre comes off duty and discoloured. The stem is divided into sections, a joint occurring at every 12-24 in. The cut stems, while still green, are divided at the joints, and the fibre is removed in the following way :—The operator takes each section in both hands, and twists it as much as possible, to disengage the fibres, having first care fully stripped oil all the bark of the stem. He then disengages at one end enough of the fibre to take hold of, and gradually strips it entirely awsy. The process would be too slow, laborious, and costly for commercial purposes. Machinery has not yet been applied to it. Probably a pair of crushing rollers, and a simple scutching apparatus, would suffice. The fibre is possessed of great strength and flexibility, and has a silk-like appearance; it seems to be adapted to the finest textile purposes, in spite of its shortness, as governed by the length of the sections. Samples of the fibre, exposed for 2 hours to steam at 2 atmos., then boiled for 3 hours, and again steamed for 4 hours, lost only 426 per cent, by weight, thus showing its durability.
Phcenix dactylifera—Date palm.—Endogen. The leaves of this palm (See Fruit— Dates) are made into mats and baskets, and the fibre contained in the peduncle of the leaves is used for oordage. The filaments are of a clear-yellow colour, gross, irregular, stiff, and brittle. The fibre might probably be utilized for paper-making.