On another Suffolk estate, and on a very much larger
scale in many counties, is being grown a very different plant, of which even more optimistic prophecies are abroad. This is called Brotex, and it has been given the publicity which hitherto Erbifex, a rather later arrival, has missed. Both are cotton plants. Both contain a fibre that is extracted with less trouble than linen, for example, from flax. Both show a reasonable liking for the English soil and climate, though Brotex is not, I believe, quite so immune to hard frost as was at first believed. But then the winter of 1928- 1929 was altogether exceptional. I have little idea whether or no either plant, or both, will prove the double boon to farmers and manufacturers that the enthusiasts prognosticate : time and experiment must decide. But in the meanwhile, botanically as well as economically, the plants are interesting, not to say exciting. * *
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