Pibres. 



144 



Maroa 1907. 



Economic Classification.— A discriptive catalogue of the useful fibre plants 

 of the world by O. R. Dodge* enumerates over one thousand species, the important 

 of which are fully described and treated from the botanical, structural, and indus- 

 trial stand points. His classification of fibre plants based oti their uses is both so 

 simple and natural that we incorporate its main features, at the same time drawing 

 on local fibre plants for illustrating the numerous divisions of the scheme : 



A Spining fibres. 



1. Fabric fibres ; pineapple, abaca, ramie, etc. 



2. Netting fibres ; palms, rattans, bamboo. 



3. Cordage fibres ; abaca, maguey, bamboo, rattan. 



B. Tie material (rough twisted). Palms, rattans, bamboos, grasses. 



C. Natural textiles. Fibrous sheaths of palms. 



D. Brush fibres. Palm fibres, bamboo. 



E. Plaiting and rough weaving fibres. 



1. Articles for attire ; hats, sandals, etc. Abaca, palms, bamboo. 



2. Mats and mattings ; also thatch materials. Grasses, bamboos, palms, etc., 



F. Forms of tilling. Kapok, straw, grasses. 



G. Paper material. 



1. Textile papers. All waste from A, including old rope. 



2. Bast papers. 



3. Palm papers. From the fibrous material of palms and similar monocoty- 

 ledonous plants, including rattans. 



4. Bamboo and grass papers. This includes all material from graminaceous 

 plants, including bamboos, cereal straws, and true grasses. 



5. Wood-pulp papers. Philippine soft woods, (Lauan Shorea), Cupang (Parkia), 

 Grewia, etc. 



It will be seen from this scheme of classification and from the native plants 

 selected to examplify each division of use, first, that a comparatively small number of 

 plants supply fibre for all the present requirements ; for instance, plantaius, grasses, 

 bamboo, rattan, and palm fibre are made into fabrics, fish nets, hats, baskets, mats, 

 twine, rope, thatch, brushes, and brooms ; second, that those plants which find 

 such general use are without exception monocotyledons and their fibres are of the 

 class termed structural ; third, that with the exception of maguey and pineapple 

 they are either plantains, grasses or palms ; fourth, that, leaving out of consideration 

 native woois as a possible source of pipsr stojk, the available supply of material 

 for any future paper industry in the Philippines musu come from one or more of 

 these three sources, t, — Philippine Journal of Science. Vol. 1 No. 5 June, 1906 



* Report No. 9, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



t Maguey culture is rapidly increasing in northern Luzon, and the waste from the stripping of 

 the plant may become an important factor in paper making. 



