Kirk. — Materials for Paper-making. 



Art. X. — Notes on Indigenous Materials for the Manufacture of Faper. 



By T. Kirk, RL.S. 

 \Bead before the Auckland Institute, 8th December, 1873.] 

 Doubts 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 affoi-d 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, 1ft, 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 banhsii 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. A. cunninghamii is 

 common on trees and rocks, and A. banhsii is found in immense profusion in 

 wooded places by the sea ; both occur in abundance in the North Island, but 

 their southern distiibution is uncertain. 



Kaui'i-grass, Astelia trinervia. — -Perhaps the most abundant of all the 

 species, occasionally forming the chief part of tlie undergrowth in the northern 

 forests up to 3,000ft., and so dense that it 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 ci-ops, a permanent supply might be fairly calculated 

 upon. Experience has shown that it may be cut yeaily. 



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 



