Fibres 



325 



Among the most important of the tree fibres used for brush-making, however, are the 

 various " basses " or piassabas (piassavas), from which bass brooms are made. These coarse 

 dark-brown or black fibres are obtained from the leaf -stalks or leaf- sheaths of various species 

 of palms growing in tropical America and Africa. 



Bahia piassaba is derived from the leaf-stalks of a large handsome palm with pinnate 

 leaves, abundant in swamps and on river banks in the province of Bahia, Brazil. Very 

 little preparation of the fibre is required, for it naturally separates from the leaf -stalks in a 

 fringe of coarse, flexible, somewhat flat strands. ' The mass of fibres is removed by the natives 

 with a small axe, and, after a simple cleaning and straightening process, the piassaba is baled 

 for the market. It is largely employed for the brooms used by street scavengers. 



Leopoldinia piassaba, a palm also found abundantly in Brazil, yields Monkey Bass or 

 Para piassaba. The fibre, which resembles the 'former variety in essential qualities, is also 

 obtained from the leaf-stalks, which, where they clasp the stem, become expanded and produced 

 into ribbon-like strips and separate into fine, almost round fibres about five feet long. 



A fibre which is finer and more flexible than Para piassaba is that known as Madagascar 

 piassaba, obtained from the leaf-stalks of Dictyosperma fibrosum, a palm occurring in the island. 



Fibres similar to those described above are afforded by other species of palms, the most 

 interesting being the stiff, wiry, Palmyra fibre obtained from the sheathing leaf-stalks of 

 Borassus flabellifer, a tree found truly wild in tropical Africa, and extensively planted in the 

 East Indies, and Kitul fibre prepared from the corresponding parts of the Kitul palm, a 

 characteristic plant of India and Ceylon. Kitul fibre is dusky brown in colour, and, after 

 being straightened and rendered more pliable by soaking in linseed oil, is largely used for 

 making soft long-handled brooms. The sago palm of Malacca also yields a rich black fibre 

 remarkable for its durability and known in the East as Gomutu or Ejoo fibre. It is exten- 

 sively used by the natives for ropes, caulking ships, stuffing cushions, etc., but only the 

 coarsest qualities are suitable for brush-making. 



PAPER-MAKING FIBRES 



The essential constituent of paper is cellulose, and paper-makers depend entirely upon 

 vegetable fibres for their supply of this material. There are really very few fibres which 

 cannot be made into paper of varying qualities, the amount of cellulose they contain and 

 the cost of manufacture being 

 the main considerations. A 

 large quantity of paper-making 

 material is obtained from the 

 waste of jute and rope-making 

 mills, but at the present day 

 probably the most important 

 source of material is found in 

 wood pulp, which is merely 

 timber, preferably coniferous, 

 reduced to a soft pulp by 

 mechanical and chemical means. 



Esparto grass affords an- 

 other valuable paper-making 

 material. It grows in North 

 Africa and .Southern Spain, 

 occurring in dense tufts on 

 rocky and sandy soils, and 

 reaches great luxuriance near borassus palms 



Photo by W. G. Freeman, Esq. 



