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" THURSDAY, ‘Novnmsna 21, 1867.

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Goancfl Office, '6th Hcvember, 1867.

" IS Excellency the Lieutenant Governor in Council has been pleased to appoint 312'. John Rodd Postmaster at Bonshaw, in terms of the Act of 14 Victoria, Cap. 12, in the plaeeof Mr. Albert Morrow, resigned. CHARLES DESBRISAY, C. E. C.

GENERAL 0RD 'R. . I . Mlhtia Department. 15th Novumuun, 1867. By His Excellency the. Conzmandcr-in-Chiqf.

I ING’S County Regiment of Volunteer Militia. Imowx’s CREEK RIFLE COMPANY; Alex. Campbell» to be acting Captain vice E. McPhee who resigns; Kenneth Martin to be actingr Ensign. QUEES’S COUNTY REGIMENT ()F VOLUNTEER MILITIA. Captain E. Purdy, 2nd Artillery Company, to he Adjutant. ~ A. J. DOUGLAS SMITH, ' Col. Insp. Militia.

CIRCULAR. Dowmsc S'rans'r, 25th October, 1867. Sir,

\Vith reference to the Circular Dcspatch from this Department of the sum of March last, I transmit to you herewith a copy of a Letter from the Director of the Royal Gardens at Kow, enchsing extracts from the Reports of “The Agri» Horticultural Society of Bengal,” containing instructions with regard to the cultivation and preparation of China Grass.

1 have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant

(Signed). BUCKINGHAM & CHANDOS. To Governor Dundas, &c. &c. &c. Dr. Hooker to Sir F. Rogers; ROYAL Gin-nouns. Kuw, 3rd October, 1857. Sir,

The issue by the Secretary of State for the Colonies of the Circular respecting the cultivation of Grass Cloth (March, l867‘; to the Colonies, has resulted in very numerous demands being made upon me for information regarding the method of preparing the fibre of that plant for exportation.

As the information required is to be found only in various volumes of the “ Reports of the Agri-Horticultural Society of Bengal,” a work not accessible in the Colonies, I have extracted from them the accompanying passages, which contain the necessary instructions; and I would take the liberty of suggesting, for the information of the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that it would be very advisable that these passages should be printed and

circulated to the Colonies in which the aforesaid Circular was seat. I am, &c. (Signed) Jos. D. HOOKER,

Director. Sir F. Rogers, Bar t., Colonial Oflice.

Instructions relative to the Cultivation and Preparation of the Fibre of Chinese Grass Cloth (Bochmcriu. nivca )

I.——~ON THE CULTIVATION AND PREPARATION or RIIEEA FIBRE. on CHINA GRASS. Communicated by Dr. D. J. Macfiowan to Vol. VI, Part IV, of the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India.

Planting the Seeds—In China, this takes place in May. Great care is first taken in the selection: of seeds, and in the preparationof 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

AL'GAZETTE.

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 or broken finely, manured, and then divided into beds about eight yards long and one wide; thepbeds are to be raked audka-fterc wards 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 repeat- ed. The beds being smooth, two or three table spoonsful of seed are mixed With a bowl ofearth and sown broadcast over half-a-dOZe-n 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 framework is to be constructed over the beds, on which mats should be spreak to protect them from the heat of Ju’ueIa'nd July. The matting must be kept moist by day, and removed at night that the blades ma y receive the dew of heaven. The beds are to be con- stantly wooded. When the plant is about two inches high, the frame- work aud matting may be removed. \Vhen three inches high, it should be tranSplanted. having been well watered the night before; the blades should be takeuup separately with a portion ofeartb and

3 plated in a field, far removed from mulberry trees, about four inches

apart. It may form a border to the corealia and vegetables, pro- tecting them from the depredations of domestic animals, which all avoid the " ma.” 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 Novmnber 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 ofany kind'for manure. A caution is given never to use swines’ dang, as it is “ saltish” and hurtful to the “ ma.” 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 in pieces of three or four lingers’ lenghth, and are to be planted in May, halfa 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 socand‘ year. In the course of ton years the roots become nufruitful, the shoots may then be cut off, and, if enveloped in earth and covered with matting. can be transplanted in places thirty or forty inches distant. The ground should be first well prepared with manure, and freely manured afterwards, the manure being halfwater, 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 [infrequently happens that the crop is in some places remarkably small, and sometimes the produce is very great without assignable cause.

Cutting the Mo.——It yields three crops every year. The first cut—- ing 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 perform- cd, from which the finest cloth is made, the first being inferior, course , 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 “ Mu. "just described.

Peeling tho “ Ma.”-~On being cut the leaVes- are carefully taken off with a bamboo knife, by women and children, generally on the spot. Is is then taken to the house and soaked in water-form: hour, unless it is already wet by recent showers; in cold weather the water slumld be tepid. After this the- plant is broken in the middle, by which the fibrous portion is loosened and raised from the stock; into the intorstice thus made the operator, generally a woman or child, thrusts the finger nails, and separates the fibre “tram the centre to one cxtremity,.and then to the other. The steeping: pro- ecss is very easy. It appears to be difficult to remove the fibres from the Cannon " Mo,” as it is soaked in water for more than forty~ eight hours before peeling, which is done by men. They first cut off the roots, and then, Separating the fibre from. the stalk, strip it otf by drawing it over a pin fixed ina 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 its length. This rude implement is- held in the left hand; its edge, which is (hill, 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 sur~ face and the mucilaginous part of the other are thus taken o'fl'. 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.