COMMUNICATIONS. THE annexed article has been received from Dr. D. J. Macgowan, of Ningpo, China, on the plants yielding the fibre from which the grass cloth of China is manufactured. The article was prepared originally for the Agricultural Society of Bengal India, but the author deeming it important to this country, forwarded a copy to the Society. In a note from Dr. McG., accompanying the communication, he says, that he has forwarded seeds to the Patent office for distribution. Should they be received, they will be so disposed of as to insure a proper trial in different parts of the State, so as to ascertain whether the plants are adapted to our climate. Notices regarding the plants yielding the fibre from which the Grass-cloth of China is manufactured. Communicated by DR. D. J. MACGOWAN, Ningpo, China. TO JAMES HUME, Esq., Honorary Secretary to the Agricultural Society: SIR,-The inquiries you have done me the honor to propose in behalf of the Agricultural Society of Bengal, respecting the plant from which "grass-cloth" is manufactured, embrace more than can be satis factorily answered at the present time. The subjoined account, though meagre, and in several particulars incomplete, will be found to contain much of the information you seek. It is cultivated in this vicinity, but as it is of an inferior quality, and does not flower until autumn, my description is less complete than if written in a more favored locality, or at a more advanced season of the year. Description and history.-Grass-cloth is manufactured from the fibres of a plant, called by the Chinese Má; it is a generic term, under which several varieties, if not species, are included, amongst these the Tung Má, Pi Má, Sing Má, Tien Má, and others are used only as therapeutic agents. Cloth is manufactured from the Chú Má, Tá Má, Kin Má, Luh Má, &c. There is also a species of grass-cloth made from the Koh all these have likewise a place in the pharmacopoeia of China. : In imitation of the native botanists from whose works this account has been mainly derived, I shall principally limit my remarks to a description of the Chú Má, which belongs to the natural order of Urticea—it is a Cannabis or hemp, but differing from Cannabis sativa, sufficiently to warrant another designation. Perhaps until it becomes better known it may be called Cannabis sinensis. It has an irregular cellular root of a yellowish-white color, which sends up annually ten to fifteen, or more stems, to the height of from 7 to 10 feet. The stems are upright, slightly fluted, pilous, and herbaceous: its leaves are on long petioles, alternate, ovate, roundish, serrate, simple; the upper surface pilous and dark green, the lower of a silvery-grey. The flowers are described as minute, numerous, of a light green color, on a catkin-like receptacle or spike. It is found at the base of hills and on dry soils, from Cochin China to the Yellow river, and from Chusan to the farthest west that researches can for the present extend, and abounds chiefly in Kiangsú, Sy, Chuen, Kongnain, Chikiang, Fuchkien, and Canton provinces. Native writers do not include the latter province as its region. It is certainly remarkable, that there is no notice of the Má in the work to which you refer, [Fortune's Wanderings in China,] as it is cultivated extensively in many places visited by the author, and grows even on the walls of Ningpo. The plant is mentioned in the Chinese classics, and was undoubtedly cultivated and employed by them a thousand years prior to our era. It is mentioned in the Shú King as an article of tribute from the central part of China in the time of Yu, B. C. 2205; doubtless it came into use in far more remote antiquity. The Chinese Herbal says, " its origin is unknown." "its Medical properties.-The root is described by writers on materia medica as innoxious, sweet to the taste, of a cold nature, and possessed of cathartic properties. The root, seeds, and leaves are all officinal. A long list of diseases are enumerated in which the plant is efficacious, but these throw no other light on its properties than to suggest it is comparatively inert. It is partly because of its not possessing the narcotic properties of the Cannabis sativa, that a difference is presumed to exist between them. In this connection I may remark, that grass-cloth is superior to linen for garments in hot climates, the latter being a rapid conductor of caloric is often unsafe, the former is not so good a conductor, and therefore more suitable. This may be owing either to the fact of the former being hot-pressed in a calender by which it is rendered compact and smooth, whilst the process to which the other is subjected for the same purpose, but partially affects it, or original differences in the fibres of European and Chinese linen. Planting the seeds.-This takes place in May. Great care is first taken in the selection of seeds, and in the preparation of the soil. The seed should be gathered on the appearance of frost, those produced from a recent root are the best. After being dried they are stowed away in a basket or jar mixed with sand, or dry earth, others say moist earth. The jar is then covered with straw to protect the seeds from the cold, as, if exposed to its influence they yield an imperfect plant. Before planting, the seeds are tested by immersion in water, those which float are to be rejected, those at the bottom to be planted. A loose dry soil is to be selected, if near a canal or rivulet it is preferable. The ground is to be well ploughed, and broken finely, manured, and then divided into beds about eight yards long, and one wide; the beds are to be raked, and afterwards made compact with a hoe. After this it is watered and left for a night on the following day raking up and pressing down is repeated. The beds being smooth, two or three table spoonsful of seed are mixed with a bowl of earth, and sown broadcast over half a dozen beds, then they are swept with a broom to cover the seeds. In some places the seeds are first made to sprout, and then planted in drills, which are carefully filled up. Just before the blades appear, a frame work is to be constructed over the beds, on which mats should be spread to protect them from the heat of June and July. The matting must be kept moist by day and removed at night, that the blades may receive the dew of heaven. The beds are to be constantly weeded. When the plant is about two inches high, the framework and matting may be removed. When three inches high, it should be transplanted, having been well watered the night before; the blades should be taken up separately with a portion of earth, and planted in a field far removed from mulberry trees, about four inches apart. It may form a border to the ceralia and vegetables, protecting them from the depredations of domestic animals, which all avoid the Má. In dry weather, the field is to be watered every three or four days, until the second decade, when it may be watered every tenth day. In November and December manure it with horse or buffalo dung, earth, straw, or any rubbish, a foot or more thick, to protect it from cold. In March rake it away and expose the plant, watering it in dry weather, and using rubbish of any kind for manure. A caution is given never to use swines' dung, as it is "saltish" and hurtful to the Má. In the third or fourth year, some say in the second, the plant may be cut and used. Planting the roots.-The roots are to be cut into pieces of three or four fingers' length, and are to be planted in May, half a yard apart, and watered every three or four days. On the appearance of the blades use the hoe and water them; they will be mature for cutting in the second year. In the course of ten years the roots become unfruitful, the shoots may then be cut off, and if enveloped in earth, and covered with matting, can be transplanted in places 30 or 40 inches distant. The ground should be first well prepared with manure, and freely manured afterwards: the manure being half water. Here, as before, the plants should be hoed from time to time. In many cases fresh earth, pulverized bricks, ashes, &c., are used for manure. Some years the husbandman has his crop injured by worms, he needs therefore to seek for and destroy them as they appear by picking them off. It not unfrequently happens, that the crop is in some places remarkably small, and sometimes the produce is very great without assignable cause. Cutting the Má.—It yields three crops every year. The first cutting takes place in June. Care is to be taken not to cut the young shoots, keep therefore an inch from the ground. In a month or two, the shoots are seven or eight feet high, when the second cutting takes place: do not cut the original stem. During the latter part of September, or in October, the last cutting is performed, from which the finest cloth is made the first being inferior, coarse, and hard. After each cutting, the plant is to be covered with manure, and watered; but not day by day unless it be cloudy. At Canton the plant is pulled up by the roots every year, from which it is evident that it differs widely from the Ma just described. Perhaps that which is produced at Canton is Cannabis sativa. : Peeling the Ma.-On being cut, the leaves are carefully taken off with a bamboo knife, by women and children, generally on the spot. It is then taken to the house, and soaked in water for an hour, unless it is already wet by recent showers. In cold weather the water should be tepid. After this the plant is broken in the middle, by which the fibrous portion is loosened, and raised from the stalk; into the interstice thus made, the operator, generally a woman or a child, thrusts the finger nails, and separates the fibre from the centre to one extremity, and then to the other. The stripping process is very easy. It appears to be difficult to remove the fibres from the Canton Má, as it is soaked in water for more than 48 hours before peeling, which is done by men. They first cut off the roots, and then separating the fibre from the stalk, strip it off by drawing it over a pin, fixed in a plank. In either process half of the fibre is taken off at one stroke. The next process is scraping the hemp, to facilitate which the fibre is first soaked in water. The knife or scraper is about two inches long; its back is inserted in a handle of twice the length. This rude implement i held in the left hand, its edge which is dull, is raised a line above the index finger. Strips of hemp are then drawn over the blade from within outwards, and being pressed upon by the thumb, the pilous portion of one surface, and the mucilaginous part of the other are thus taken off. The hemp then "rolls up like boiled tendon :" after being wiped dry, it is exposed to the sun for a day, and then assorted, the whitest being selected for fine cloth. Bleaching and dividing.-A partial bleaching is effected on the fibres, before they undergo further division, sometimes by boiling, and at others by pounding on a plank with a mallet. These operations are in some places repeated. After being dried in the sun, an important operation then succeeds by women and children, to whom is entrusted the tedious process of splitting the fibres, which they do with their finger nails. Expert hands are able to carry this division very far. When this process has been preceded by hatcheling, the shreds are finer and softer. The threads are formed into balls, and subjected to frequent soakings and washings. The ashes of the mulberry leaf are recommended to be put in the water with the hemp, others use lime, for a whole night. Some simply expose it to dew and sun. In rainy and cloudy weather, it should be exposed to a current of air in the house: moisture darkens it. The threads are now ready for splicing, the work of women and children, the labors of the agriculturist being concluded when the threads are rolled into balls, after being sized or stiffened with rice-water. Before the threal is ready for the weaver, the balls are steamed over the vapor of boiling water in a closed oven. They are then spread out to dry. The subsequent stages, until the cloth is removed from the loom, include nothing which interests, or at least instructs, artisans in the West. Varieties of the Má.-The Chú Má is found wild, but in this state attains only three or four feet, and is seldom used except for twine. King Má grows nearly as high as the Chú Má, the fibre is separated only by rotting in water. The stalks are dipped in sulphur and employed for matches. Its flowers are yellow. Very coarse cloth and sandals are made from its fibre. The thread of this Má made in Kongsi, is said to be as fine as silk. Tá Má or Hán (dynasty) Má, and also called fine hemp, is likewise employed for making cloth and for ropes; its fibre is used as a support to the pith employed as candle wicks. Luh Má produces the hemp of which rice bags are manufactured, and also ropes. The Tung Má and the Pi Má are used for making pigments, one serving for cakes, the other for paper. The only other M that need be named in this list is the Chí Má, Sesamum indicum. It was brought from India in the reign of Kingti, B. C. 156. It is now found in all parts of the empire. Its seeds are used in cakes, |