Director' s Annual Report. 53 



PAPER - MULBERRY. 



ExoGEN. Bast Fibre. Urticaccer. Droussonetia papyrifcra. 



The Paper-mulberry yielded the tapa or kapa cloth of the 

 Poh'uesian races. Its cultivation was formerly condudted with 

 great care, and the manufa(5ture of the cloth was in the hands of 

 the women. The plant is a small tree with large heavy leaves. 

 For the preparation of the best cloth the tree was allowed to grow 

 about twelve feet, when the bark was stripped and its external 

 surface removed by steeping and scraping. The clean inner bark 

 was then macerated and beaten upon a log of hard wood with a 

 wooden mallet. The different strips of bark were welded together 

 at the edges by beating, and the cloth was dyed, figured with pleas- 

 ing designs and sometimes perfumed with aromatic plants. The 

 whole process was an elaborate one, and the degree of texture ob- 

 tained, the brillianc}- of coloring, and the effe(5tive ornamentation 

 are remarkable. This cloth in its various manufactures was an 

 excellent substitute for wool or cotton. Its manufacture has now 

 ceased in the Hawaiian Islands, and indeed throughout Polynesia. 

 In Japan and Java the paper-mulberr}- is used to make a tough, 

 durable paper ; and Morus alba is used as a textile material in Italy. 



PANDANUS. 



Endogen. Structural Fibre. Pandanacccc. Pandaniis odora- 



tissimjis. 



The Eauhala or Hala of the natives belongs to the Screw-pines, 

 so called on account of their spirally arranged leaves and the re- 

 semblance of the fruit to a pine cone. The faniil}- is dispersed 

 throughout the Pacific, and also is found in the East African 

 islands. The fibre of this plant isx)btained from the leaves and is 

 well suited for matting and sacking, but is little used for cordage. 

 The leaves are first divested of their dorsal and marginal spines 

 and then divided into strips. These are scraped with a blunt knife 

 or shell and cleaned by immersion in water. Further careful scrap- 

 ing removes any roughness and gives the fibre a pleasing lustre. 

 The fusiform aerial roots of the Pandanus contain a stronger fibre 

 than the leaves, useful for basket work and whitewash brushes. 



