COMMERCIAL BOTANY. 



ESPABTO (SUpa lenacissima). 



which Mr. Rout- 

 ledge paid con- 

 siderable attention 

 was the young 

 stems of bamboos, 

 and he succeeded 

 in showing that 

 a very fine paper 

 could be made 

 from these stems, 

 as he published a 

 pamphlet on the 

 subject in 1875 

 which was printed 

 on paper made 

 from bamboo. It 

 was proposed that 

 the stems should 

 be crushed at the 

 place of growth 

 and shipped in 

 that state to this 

 country, so as to 

 reduce bulk and 

 freight. The in- 

 terest in the pro- 

 ject to utilise the 

 bamboos as a 

 paper material be- 

 came general, both 

 in England, India, 

 and America. As 

 these gigantic 

 grasses will grow 

 in almost any tro- 



