The natives prepare the fibre, which is sold in the European markets under the name of “Piassava,” by cutting the stem-sheaths and steeping them in water for a considerable time until the fibrous strands are easily separated by beating. After being extracted in this manner they are dried in the sun. Only a small quantity is exported from the country, but it is a more important article of export from Sierra Leone and Liberia. As the specific name denotes, wine is extracted from the tree, by tapping the standing or felled tree, in the last case with the aid of fire. On the estate of the African Plantations, Ltd., near Axim, a fibre of excellent quality, commercially allied to jute, has been prepared from the stems of a herbaceous plant, which was supposed to be _Triumfetta semitriloba_, Linn., but which has since been determined at Kew to be _T. cordifolia_ var. _Hollandii_, Sprague. The plant belongs to the same Natural Order as Indian jute—namely, _TILIACEÆ_. A description of this fibre is given in the _Bulletin of the Imperial Institute_, vol. vi. (1908), p. 241. This species has been observed commonly in a wild state in the forests near Sekondi and Axim, but does not seem to be present in the interior of Ashanti or in the country towards the Volta river. Experiments made at the estate of the African Plantations, Ltd., are said to show that the best fibre is obtained from stalks which have been retted or steeped in water for five days, but it will probably be found that the period required for the operation is dependent to a great extent upon the age of the stalks used. The fibre may be prepared by stripping the bark layers from the soaked stalks and beating these upon the surface of the water until the actual bark is removed, when the fibre may be dried in the sun; being finally picked over to get rid of the small remaining bark particles. The plant exhibits some advantages for cultivation over jute, in that it may be cropped twice in one year and treated as a perennial. Collection of the wild growths would be unsatisfactory for the production of the fibre upon a large scale, owing to the time occupied in searching for the plants, but it seems probable that the plant would repay planting, especially if some better method of extraction were devised. The composition, quality, and commercial value of a large number of fibres obtained from plants indigenous to, or cultivated in, the Gold Coast are discussed in _Selected Reports from the Imperial Institute_, Part I., “Fibres” (Colonial Reports, Miscellaneous, Cd. 4588, 1909), pp. 43, 51, 84, 89, 90, 115.