KIRK. 
ел 
Ct 
Materials for Paper-making. 
Акт. X.—WNotes on Indigenous Materials for the Manufacture of Paper. 
By T. Kirk, ELS. 
[Read before the Auckland Institute, 8th December, 1873.] 
Dovsts having been freely expressed as to whether the Colony possesses a 
sufficient abundance of raw material for the manufacture of paper to allow of 
the process being undertaken on a remunerative scale, it may be worth while 
to call attention to several plants available for the purpose, all of which occur 
in abundance, and are being yearly destroyed to an enormous extent by the 
progress of settlement. Several of them could be cultivated so as to afford a 
regular supply. 
Kahakaha, Astelia solandri.—The tree-flax of the settlers; abundant on 
lofty trees and rocks throughout the Colony; the entire leaf produces a 
considerable quantity of fibre, and is thickly clothed at the base with silky, 
shaggy, lustrous hairs ; it is usually found on rocks from sea-level to 2,500ft. 
or 3,000ft., and on the limbs of trees, where, at a distance, it resembles the 
nest of some huge bird. The leaves are radical, 1%. to 2ft. long, and produced 
in large numbers. Hundreds of tons are destroyed on every acre of forest 
land cleared in the North Island. 
Kowharawhara, Astelia banksii and A. cunninghamii, have the habit of 
the preceding species, but the leaves, although narrower than that plant, are 
from 3ft. to 6ft. in length, and produce a superior fibre. А. cunninghamii is 
common on trees and rocks, and A. banksii is found in immense profusion in 
wooded places by the sea ; both occur in abundance in the North Island, but 
their southern distribution is uncertain. 
Kauri-grass, Astelia trinervia.—Perhaps the most abundant of all the 
*pecies, occasionally forming the chief part of the undergrowth in the northern 
forests up to 3,000ft., and so dense that 16 is often difficult to force one's way 
amongst the interlaced leaves, which are from 3ft. to 8ft. long, and of a paler 
green tinge than either of the preceding. It could be procured by hundreds 
of tons, and as, like the other species, it is found in situations not adapted for 
ordinary cultivated crops, a permanent supply might be fairly calculated 
upon. Experience has shown that it may be cut yearly. 
The leaves of all the species of Astelia are clothed at their base with silky 
shaggy hairs, and the entire surface is covered with a thin pellicle. 
Ti, or cabbage-tree, Cordyline australis.—A shrub or small tree, from 6ft. 
to 25ft. high, found throughout the Colony, often in immense abundance—as 
in the Bay of Islands and Waikato districts. This plant is too well known to 
need description; it is sufficient to state that it produces a large quantity of 
fibrous material, and might be readily cultivated. An obscure plant closely 
