A New Fibre.

Waikato Argus, Volume XXV, Issue 3844, 27 July 1908, Page 3

A New Fibre.

When Mr J. M. Johnston, of Palmerston North, was on his recent visit to Sydney he was given a sample of an African fibre. The sample is over 2ft 6in in length, and is not only liner, but stronger than New Zealand flax. The Sydney Mail gives the following information concerning it:— "Mr Charles A. White, F.R.H.S., a native of Australia, and at present manager of an estate in Central Africa, has made an accidental discovery that may prove of immense ■benefit to Australia. Requiring a rope one day, he was surprised to find that a native servant had improvised one from the fibres of a plant with which he was well acquainted, but of the valuable properties of which he had no knowledge. In the course of a letter to the New South Wales Minister for Agriculture (Mr Perry) Mr White says he has known the Asceplias semilunata (the plant referred to) to have a wide geographical dis-tribution-he has seen it growing in Western Australia, South Africa, Rhodesia, German Africa, Portuguese Africa, Uganda, and in the Congo country. Nobody seemed to be aware of its great market value. In its habits it does not object to abundant rain, and is also drought resistant, growing on the equator 6ft in height in stony ground. By the same mail Mr Perry received from Mr White a parcel of seed and a hank of fibre. It is of fine colour, about 4ft in length, and very tough. The fibre was submitted to a well-known firm of ropemakers in the city, who pronounced it equal to best Manila, and worth £35 a ton in Sydney if supplied in lengths of not less than 4ft. Each seed carries a downy tuft, more silky than kapok, and this down the African natives use for bedding. Mr Perry has taken steps to have the seed tested in Sydney and different parts of the State, to ascertain if it can be grown successfully under New South Wales conditions. Mr White advises that it may be sown broadcast, like wheat, and he is very confident that it will do excellently in Australian soil." Probably the plant would grow in the northern part of New Zealand, and may be found more profitable than flax, though the information on the point of productiveness is as yet meagre.