40  MATERIALS  FOR  PAPER  MAKING  FROM  INDIA. 
fectly  dried  up,  and  converted  into  half-stuff  for  paper-makers. 
Of  the  sedges  also  some  are  employed  in  India  for  making 
ropes,  as  the  Bhabhur  or  Eriophorwm  cannabinum,  for  making 
rope  bridges  for  crossing  some  of  the  hill  torrents.  The  papy- 
rus, we  know,  was  used  by  the  Egyptians  for  making  their  paper, 
but  this  was  by  cutting  the  material  into  thin  slices  and  making 
them  adhere  together  under  pressure.  But  others  of  the  genus, 
as  the  Cyperus  tegetum,  is  used  in  India  for  mat-making.  As 
these  plants,  as  well  as  rushes,  grow  together  in  large  quanti- 
ties, it  would  be  quite  possible  in  many  places  to  turn  them  to 
profitable  account. 
Many  parts  of  the  world  abound  in  the  lily  and  aloe-leaved 
plants  which  have  been  alluded  to  above,  and  of  which  the 
leaves  contain  much  easily  separable  fibrous  materials.  These 
belong  to  the  genera  Agave,  Aloe,  Yucca,  Sauseviera,  Bromelia, 
and  others,  all  of  which  abound  in  white-colored  fibres,  applica- 
ble to  various  useful  purposes,  and  of  which  the  tow  might  be 
used  for  paper-making,  and  considerable  supplies  obtained.  Pa- 
per used  to  be  made  from  the  Sauseviera  in  Trichinopoly,  and 
some  made  of  the  unbleached  Agave  alone,  and  also  mixed  with 
old  gunny  bags. 
Among  cultivated  plants  there  is  probably  nothing  so  well  cal- 
culated to  yield  a  large  supply  of  material  fit  for  making  paper 
of  almost  every  quality,  as  the  plantain  (Musa  paradisiac  a),  so 
extensively  cultivated  in  all  tropical  countries  on  account  of  its 
fruit,  of  which  the  fibre-yielding  stems  are  applied  to  no  useful 
purpose.  The  plant,  as  every  one  acquainted  with  tropical 
countries  knows,  is  common  near  the  poorest  huts  and  in  the 
largest  gardens,  and  is  considered  to  yield  by  far  the  largest 
quantity  of  nutritious  matter.  Its  fruit,  in  many  places  supply- 
ing the  place  of  bread,  and  in  composition  and  nutritious  value 
approaching  most  nearly  to  the  potato,  may,  if  produced  in  too 
large  a  quantity,  be  preserved  in  the  same  way  as  figs,  or  the 
meal  may  be  separated,  as  it  resembles  rice  most  nearly  in  com- 
position. Each  root-stock  throws  up  from  six  to  eight  or  ten 
stems,  each  of  which  must  be  yearly  cut  down,  and  will  yield 
from  three  to  four  pounds  of  the  fibre  fit  for  textile  fabrics,  for 
rope-making,  or  for  the  manufacture  of  paper.  As  the  fruit  al- 
ready pays  the  expenses  of  the  culture,  this  fibre  could  be  af- 
