294 



THE DWARF PALM, 



The first shipments of rough palm leaves for paper-making were 

 made about 1852, and the following have been the exports since : 



Kilos. 



1852 55,820 



1853 15,187 



1854 207,336 



1855 294,160 



1856 502,805 



Kilos. 



1857 24,460 



1858 17,482 



1859 131,685 



1860 26,159 



1861 91,723 



In 1871 it reached the largest quantity, 1,171,737 kilogrammes ; 

 since then it has dropped again. 



There is an extensive trade carried on in other palm leaves, such as 

 the Palmetto of the Americans [Sahal Palmetto, Lodd.), the Thrinax 

 argentea, furnishes a sinnet, or chip, which is woven into hats, and 

 thei:e is a large import of palm leaves for plaiting, into China, but these 

 scarcely deserve special detailed enumeration; suffice it to say, that 

 there was imported into the port of Shanghai, in 1871, 4,755,117 

 piculs of untrimmed palm leaves, and 231,091 trimmed palm leaves 

 for making fans. 



The Attalea genus of palms are nearly all natives of Brazil ; one 

 or two species yield the valuable brush fibre known as Piassaba, and 

 a species common to British Honduras (A. Cohune, Mart.), was recom- 

 mended to notice some years ago, from the fact of its nuts yielding a 

 good, useful, white oil. 



