1G5 



handy height; it only takes four years to develop from should be installed for testing the woods. 



seed. The production of alcohol exceeds 10,000 litres only match-ply and cheap three-ply could be tried out. 



Thus, not 



a year. The yield per year of the sap from one palm 

 is 43 litres, and they count on 750 fruiting palms to 

 the acre, or a yield of sap per acre of 32,250 litres. 

 This is taken to the distillery, and a yield of from 



but the beautiful figured woods could be cut into thin 

 veneers and the markets tested. 



For match splints and boxes No. 13 — Pterocymbium, 

 p. — is worth attention. A spcies of this genus has 



w: 



1.1 per cent, to 7.5 per cent, is obtained. The average been used in the Philippines for this work, 

 yield from 33 distilleries was 5.6 per cent. According 

 to the estimates of Gibbs, from whose work" the above 

 has been extracted, Nij.a is th.3 cheapest known source 

 of alcohol. Just as I was unable to give exact figures 

 of the area of mangrove swamps in Papua, so am I 

 unable to give an estimate' of the area under Nipa. It 

 is a social species in the mangrove swamps, of which 

 vast areas exist between the Alele mouth and the Fly 

 river. The development, of this industry looks very 

 promising, and with proper regulation and control, 

 and the denaturing of the product, to make it unfit 

 for consumption by natives, there seems little possi- 

 bility of it becoming a beverage. A careful study of 

 the Philippine industry should be undertaken before 



a beginning is made in Papua. It might be necessary 

 to import a few Philippinos to teach the labour here 

 how to tap the fruiting stalk. The opportunities of 



Fibre Plants. 



The enormous number of fibre trees or plants in 

 New Guinea strikes the least observant traveller. 

 Ropes, string, nets, bags, armlets and leglets, are 

 made of fibre, and the fibres used in one district differ 

 from those used in the next. A very large number 

 of these are bast fibres, derived from the layer of bark 

 next to the cambium layer. The number of siring 

 fibres, however, capable of holding their own with 

 the standard fibres of the world, is very small. There 

 is no strong musa (manila) fibre, and the palms do 

 not appear to yield anything in the nature of the 

 piassava of tropical Africa. None has, as yet, been 

 put to a commercial test, and such manufacture as has 

 been done at mission schools has been in the direction 

 of matting for floor coverings. The natives make their 



establishing this industry in the Mandated Territory net bags, their fishing nets and the large hunting nets 

 are not so good, the areas of Nipa swamps being very for their own use, but there has not sprung up any 

 restricted. business in the gathering or the weaving or netting of 



fibres. Some of the fibres are strong and sound, and 

 deserve careful investigation with a view to* their collec- 

 tion and marketing. One of the strongest, yet it is 

 a fibre that is little used, is that derived from the 



Paper Pulp. 



With the growth of democratic education the use 

 of ephemeral reading matter, printed on the lowest 

 grade of paper, the life of which need only be twenty- 

 four hours, has developed to a monstrous extent. It 

 is stated that it takes 15 acres of spruce to supply 

 pulp enough to produce one issue of the Sunday edition 

 of the New York Times. I have no statistics of the 

 quantity of st newsprint " imported by Australia. 

 The item " Paper, etc.", which includes stationery, is 

 shown in the Commonwealth Year-Booh, 1921-2, on naire 



7 c^^ 



485. The average annual value of the imports for the 

 war period, 1914-5, to 1918-9, was £3,373,667, and for 

 1920-21 £8,978,897. Efforts are being made in the 

 direction of producing chemical pulp from certain 

 hardwoods, and these have met with great success. It 

 is quite possible that, among the many fast-growing 

 tropical weed trees that grow to pulping size in one- 

 quarter the time it takes a Canadian spruce, there 

 may be found a good wood for the production of 

 mechanical pulp. A very careful search should be 

 made, the various trees being examined to determine 

 their length of fibre and other pulping qualities. 

 Should satisfactory material be met with, then the 

 growing of it should prove a very simple matter. 



The ilutuan 



fishing 



.Matches, Veneers, and Three-Ply. 



The manufacture of wooden matches is an industry 

 of considerable importance, and while the best match 

 splints are made from aspen, the dearth of this wood 

 has forced manufacturers to other woods. Hoop pine, 

 for instance, is used, which makes a coarse, brittle 

 splint, which burns rather poorly. The method of 



bast of the cabbage tree — (inchim gp 



people use it occasionally for making 



lines and rope. Another tree which yields a very 

 strong, hard fibre, used in preference to all others by 

 the Motuans for rope and the heavy neis which they 

 use to catch turtle or dugong, is Vanea (Ster- 



cvlia sp.). In this ease the bark is used. After 



the bark has been soaked for some time in water, it 

 separates in an extraordinary manner into layers. 



The sheets of fibre have the appearance of cream mus- 

 lin, and are very thin. These are cut into convenient 

 widths for twisting, and are made into stout string 

 with the thigh twirl, wihch, T suppose, is the earliest 



rope-making plant exstant. The spring is twisted into 



cord or rope, and the latter is netted into very large 

 seine nets. It is said that they are better for use in 

 water in catching dugong — big fish — than on land for 

 catchiug pig.. In any case, the fibre is obtainable in 

 quantities, for the tree grows to a large size, and is 

 by no means rare. It is curious that it is only the 

 Motuans that I have found using this fibre; other 



tribes use other materials to make heavy ropes, usually 



Hibiscus t iliac ens. 



The fibre derived from the Leaves of all the screw 

 pines makes a very useful cordage, but. is more satis- 

 factory for netting manufacture. The common species 



o^ the coast, probably Pttnrfanus teclorius, is the 



one generally used, though the mountain species, 



which may prove to be P. simplex, seems to 



manufacture is usually to cut veneer of the thickness p BB j flyil „ -l 



i , « , . J „ „ , . • .1 an ua nu. > n 



carry better fibre. It is a mountain species, 

 and there so many other hast fibres occur that- 



desired from the circumference of 



the log, 



paring it 



as probably been overlooked. 



I Tat- 



down against a knife, and to cut this wide sheet into 

 widths and clock them to the required lengths. The 

 boxes are also made from the sheets. While many 

 of the Papuan timbers would appear to have the neces- 

 sary qualities for match splints, only careful testing 

 can prove them. The advantage of such tests : s that 

 they can be combined with tests for veneer and three- 

 ply wood. The demand for veneers and three-plys is 

 increasing annually, and the testing of Papuan wood 

 does not offer much difficulty. Both a rotary veneer 



plaiting might be introduced with advantage, for 

 excellent light panama-like hats can be made 

 from the Panda iiacetv. Quite a number of clim- 

 bers of the Arum family drop aerial roots and these 

 are fine and very strong. The natives esteem fcUem 

 as the best armlet and Leglet fibres. AVhen writing of 

 these monocotolydenous plants, one is naturally sur- 

 prised at the absence of the pineapple and bow-string 

 hemp fibres, also the banana. Some of the wild Musa 



might, well be tested, far another source of manila 



cutter and machinery to saw or slice ornamental woods he ™J> r wou1 ^ be of ^ eal ""1'°''^'. 



* H. J), (abbs, Alcohol Industry of the Philippi»< Islands. 



Of figs there are numerous fibre-bearing trees. I 

 have not attempted to collect full material of this bier 



