PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS 221 







canes and treating them with hot water before sub- 

 mitting them to the action of chemicals in the digester. 

 Factories in which bamboo constitutes the raw 

 material have been established in Formosa and Indo- 

 China, and the erection of factories in India is at 

 present under contemplation. 



Bagasse or Megasse. A good deal of attention has 

 been devoted to the fibrous residue of the sugar 

 factories, which is left after the removal of the juice 

 from the sugar-cane and is known as " bagasse " or 

 " megasse." This product has been employed in 

 paper-mills in Trinidad and Cuba, and its use seems 

 likely to extend. 



Baobab Bark. The " Baobab " or " Monkey 

 Bread " tree (Adansonia digitatd) is extremely abund- 

 ant in West Africa. The inner bark of this tree is 

 very fibrous and is said to possess properties which 

 render it of exceptional value for the manufacture of 

 strong, light-coloured wrapping paper with a high 

 finish. In order to prepare the material for the 

 market, the hard outer bark is first removed by 

 chopping and the inner bark is then stripped off in 

 large sheets. It is used by the natives for making 

 ropes and sacking. Small quantities are exported 

 to the United Kingdom from West Africa, and realise 

 prices of about 4 IDS. to 6 per ton in Liverpool. 

 The ultimate fibres of this material vary in length 

 from 0-14 to o-2i inch, with an average of 0*18 inch. 



Other Materials. Among other materials which 

 have been employed commercially, mention may be 

 made of peat which has been used to some extent in 

 the manufacture of cheap brown paper, and the paper 

 mulberry (Broussonetia papyri/era) which is employed 

 in China, Japan and Burma, and yields a very strong 

 paper. 



A number of other fibrous materials have been 

 investigated at the Imperial Institute, and found to 

 be capable of being converted into satisfactory pulp 

 for paper-making. An account of these will be found 

 in Selected Reports of the Imperial Institute, Part 7, 

 Fibres, and in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute 

 (i9i2,X, 372; 1913, XI, 68; 1914, XII, 42 ; and 1916, 



