The high value of land precludes the cultivation of any fibrous
material exclusively for paper-making in England, even if this climate
was suitable for its growth; with the exception indeed of "FLAX" and
"HEMP," it would appear that northern latitudes are not favourable for
the production of fibre-producing plants, and therefore it is to warm
or _tropical countries_ alone any reliable supply of "NEW MATERIAL" can
be looked for.
In the _East_, and _West Indies_, in her _Colonies_ and _Dependencies_,
England possesses an inexhaustible supply of fibre-producing plants; in
India especially, almost every plant abounds more or less in fibre.
In China and Japan, as also in India, from the earliest times, paper
has been made exclusively from _raw indigenous virgin fibres_, and the
paper produced in these countries is in consequence generally extremely
strong and tough, and although unbleached, and not made in a fashion
adapted to European requirements, affords ample and conclusive evidence
of the valuable supply of material at our disposal.
VEGETABLE FIBROUS, or FIBRE-PRODUCING PLANTS, are divided by BOTANISTS
into two distinct CLASSES or DIVISIONS: ENDOGENS, or inside growers;
EXOGENS, or outside growers.
From the former are obtained the fibres known as "MANILLA HEMP" or
"ABACA" (from the _Musa textilis_ or _Plantain_), the "ALOE," "AGAVÉ"
(or "_Pita_ _Fibre_"), the "YUCCA," "BROMELIA PENGUIN," "SISAL HEMP"
(or _Hannequin_); "PINA FIBRE" from the "PINE APPLE" (_Ananassa
sativa_), "MAROOL or MOORVA" (_Sanseveira Zeylanica_), "NEW ZEALAND
FLAX" (_Phormium tenax_), &c.; "MAIZE" (or _Indian Corn_), "RICE,"
and other "CEREAL STRAWS," "ESPARTO," "DISS," and various "Sedges,"
"Reeds," and "Grasses," the latter including "BAMBOO," and "SUGAR
CANE," are also comprised in this Class.
The FIBRES, or FIBROUS TISSUE enveloping the _Stems_ of _Herbaceous
Plants_, known as "HEMP," "FLAX," "JUTE," "HIBISCUS," (_Gombo_ or
_Okhro_), "RHEA," or "CHINA-GRASS" (_Urtica nivea_), "SUNN HEMP"
(_Cratolaria juncea_), &c., as also the LACE BARKS (so called), such
as the "ADANSONIA DIGITATAS" (from the _Baobab_ tree), the "NEPAL
PAPER PLANT" (_Daphne cannabina_), the "PAPER MULBERRY" (_Broussonetia
papyrifera_), &c., constitute the latter Class.
I have confined myself to recapitulating _a few only_ of the _fibres_
in either class, best known to commerce; this list, indeed, might be
extended almost indefinitely, as may be seen by reference to the work
before alluded to, 'The Fibrous Plants of India,' by Dr. Forbes Royle,
as also to the elaborate Paper on the same subject, read at the meeting
of the Society of Arts, May 9, 1860, by Dr. J. Forbes Watson, Reporter
on the Products of India, Dr. Royle's able successor.
With some few exceptions (notably "Esparto" and some of the Cereal
straws and grasses), the resulting or ultimate fibres from vegetable
fibrous plants, before they can be utilized either for Textile
purposes, or for the manufacture of Paper, must be freed from the
extraneous substances with which during their growth they are more or
less combined.
In the case of _Endogens_, the fibres are imbedded or enveloped in
succulent, fleshy, or pulpy stems, or leaves; and in the case of
_Exogens_, the fibre is combined with, and attaching to, wood, or woody
matter, such extraneous substances or matters constituting, more or
less, a considerable portion both of the weight and bulk of the plant
even when matured.