. Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Union of South Africa. nts taken from this heavily-infected tractof land and tied into bundles ready for fibre extraction. Theseplants were gathered, bundled, and forwarded to the BotanicalLaboratories, Pretoria, by Mr. Closterschulte, of the Westfalia Estates,Duivels Kloof. In spite of tlieir age an excellent sample of fibre hasbeen obtained from them. In some of the areas mentioned above the plant thrives to suchan extraordinary extent that the writer has seen large patches, bothof virgin veld and lands so completely covered that it was almost 20 5
. Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Union of South Africa. nts taken from this heavily-infected tractof land and tied into bundles ready for fibre extraction. Theseplants were gathered, bundled, and forwarded to the BotanicalLaboratories, Pretoria, by Mr. Closterschulte, of the Westfalia Estates,Duivels Kloof. In spite of tlieir age an excellent sample of fibre hasbeen obtained from them. In some of the areas mentioned above the plant thrives to suchan extraordinary extent that the writer has seen large patches, bothof virgin veld and lands so completely covered that it was almost 20 574 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. impossible to walk through it, so dense was the growth of theseplants. The plants thrive best on dry, sandy, well-ventilated soils. In India about 20 lb. of seed are sown to the acre and it is putin broadcast. The crop usually takes 5-6 months to mature. Theplants are either reaped with a mower or pulled out by the roots assoon as the first seed-pods are ripe and while the upper portion of theplant is still in Photo bif 1. B. Pole Ecaiix. Plate IV.—A much-branched plant of Hibiscus cannahinns,growing on the farm Waterval, Duivels Kloof, andundesirable for seed purposes. After reaping, the plants are tied into bundles and then retted inwater for ten days or more. Running water, if obtainable, is prefer-able for this operation. The bundles are first placed in an upriglitposition in water so that the thicker root ends may be thoroughlysoaked. After a couple of days the bundles are laid horizontally andentirely immersed. South African Fibre Plants. 575 As soon as the retting- has advanced sufficiently the fibre isstripped off by hand and cleaned by dashing- it against the surface ofthe water or a board erected for the purpose. After washing, it iswrung out and hung up to dry for a day. It is then twisted intohanks and pressed into bales of some 400 lb. weight. The yield of fibre per acre in India is said to be from 1-2 tons;no
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