BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 
63 
process is now being applied to flowers. It appears that in Paris there is a great 
demand for white lilacs for ladies' bouquets ia winter, and as the common white 
lilac does not force well, the purple " Lilas de Morly " is used. The flowers of 
this variety, when made to expand at a high temperature, in total darkness, are of 
a pure white ; those of the Persian lilac will not whiten. 
Paper Materials. — The cry for " more rags " which the paper-makers raised 
some years ago, necessarily failed to increase the supply of rags, but it served to 
bring materials to the paper-mill that had not been previously thought of Holly- 
hock stems and straw and heather, and a hundred other substances, were tried and 
found suitable in various degrees. Many of these, while capable of being converted 
into paper, could not be profitably used in the manufacture ; but several have taken 
their place as really important sources of paper fibre. Plants that require to be cul- 
tivated exclusively for this purpose are not likely to yield satisfactory results, and 
of late years, therefore, attention has been especially directed to the waste products 
of agriculture. In all agricultural plants woody fibre is produced to a greater or 
less extent, and that of the straw of cereal grains has been used for a number of 
years to a considerable extent. The leaves and husks of Indian Corn (^Zea Mays, L.) 
are also coming into extensive use, as appears from interesting details published by 
Professor Lindley in the Gardeners' Chronicle. Dr. Lindley's account of the manu- 
facture appears to be founded upon statements that have appeared in the Breslauer 
Gewerheblatt and the Daily Telegraph, a London paper. The following extracts 
will be of interest on this side of the Atlantic, where Indian Corn is produced in 
such enormous quantities: — "Recent experiments have proved Indian Corn to 
possess not only all the qualities necessary to make' a good article, but to be in many 
respects superior to rags. The discovery to which we allude is a complete success, 
and may be expected to exercise the greatest influence upon the price of paper. 
Indian Corn, in countries of a certain degree of temperature, can be easily cultivated 
to a degree more than sufficient to satisfy the utmost demands of the paper market. 
Besides, as rags are likely to fall in price, owing to the extensive supply resulting 
from this new element, the world of writers and readers would seem to have a 
brighter future before it than the boldest fancy would have imagined a short time 
ago. This is not the first time that paper has been manufactured from the blade of 
Indian Corn; but, strange to say, the art was lost, and required to be discovered 
anew. As early as the seventeenth century, an Indian Corn paper manufactory 
was in full operation in the town of Rievi, in Italy, and enjoyed a world-wide repu- 
tation at the time ; but with the death of its proprietor the secret seemed to have 
lapsed into oblivion. Attempts subsequently made to continue the manufacture 
were baffled by the difiiculty of removing the flint and resinous and glutinous mat- 
ter contained in the blade. The recovery of the process has at last been effected, 
and is due to. the cleverness of one Herr Moritz Diamant, a Jewish writing-mastei: 
