Canadian Forestry Journal, November, 1917 



1401 



Making Rugs From Paper Fibre 



By Sydney A. Bonnaffon in "Commercial American" 



How The Tree Is Turned To Paper Yarn, 

 Then Woven Into Beautiful Designs. 



As far back as history will take us 

 the use of a iloor covering of some sort 

 has been characteristic of the human 

 race. Even if it has been but the 

 strewing of leaves or grass in cave 

 habitations by the most ancient 

 known representatives of mankind, 

 this desire for comfort or protection 

 underfoot has been a distinctive trait. 

 But, while such carpeting may have 

 been sufficient for the needs of the 

 earliest cave dwellers, it was not 

 long before the use of animal skins 

 as an improvement over the more 

 primitive means came into popularity. 

 And even to the present day the 

 animal skin is used extensively for 

 this purpose, but among the highly 

 civilized peoples the use is for decora- 

 tion rather than for general utility. 



In the days of ancient Greece and 

 Bome the progress of civilization was 

 reflected in a high appreciation of 

 the decorative, and floorings of arti- 

 ficial stone, mosaics of marble, tile 

 and variously colored woods symbol- 

 ized the wealth and luxury of the 

 times. It was in Bome that the 

 famous textile carpets of Asia, the 

 first recorded, those made by the 

 Egyptians, and the woollen carpets 

 of Babylon, found their sale, and for 

 beauty and durability they have 

 never been rivaled in all the centuries 

 since. Oddly enough, the looms 

 which made those wonderful carpets 

 of antiquit^^ differ in practically no 

 respect from the Oriental hand-looms 

 of to-day, which continue to supply 

 the world's best and most expen&ive 

 floor coverings. 



The Carpet-making Art 

 Tnese Oriental rugs and carpets of 

 Western Asia early found introduc- 

 tion into European countries. The 

 Moors brought them to Spain during 



their conquests in that country. 

 Again, the Crusaders to the Holy 

 Land brought them home with them. 

 Italy, because of its proximity to 

 the rug markets, had Oriental rugs 

 long ahead of other modern countries. 

 Before the advent of the textile carpet 

 in Europe tapestries and needlework 

 hangings were occasionally used as 

 carpets, but it was not until the 

 fourteenth century, and in Flanders, 

 that carpet making really had its 

 start. From then on the develop- 

 ment of the industry** spread rapidly, 

 although the influence of the Oriental 

 article, particularly in the matter of 

 design and colors, w^as strong, and 

 has continued so up to the present 

 day. 



Bugs and carpets, however, despite 

 the modern improved methods of 

 machine weaving and large scale pro- 

 duction, have never become what 

 might be termed cheap. Where low 

 price has been desired, quality and 

 consequently utility have had to be 

 sacrificed. Little more than a hun- 

 dred years ago American housewives 

 considered even the modest home- 

 made rag carpets as a luxury and 

 only to be used in the best room of the 

 house, while in other rooms the floor 

 was left bare, or, as in the much- 

 tenanted kitchen and sitting room, 

 sand W'as used. Now, however, the 

 living standard has risen, and with 

 it a demand for an attractive as well 

 as a durable and cheap floor covering. 

 In recent years Japanese and Chinese 

 mattings have come to be used as a 

 cheap substitute for carpet. It is not, 

 however, a cheerful winter floor cover- 

 ing, nor can it be considered at all 

 attractive, rather the contrary. Simi- 

 larly, cocoa matting, made from the 

 fibrous husk of the cocoanut, while 

 durable, is rather a coarse and harsh 



