MATERIALS  FOR  PAPER  MAKING  FROM  INDIA. 
41 
forded  at  a  cheap  rate,  as  from  the  nature  of  the  plant,  consist- 
ing almost  only  of  water  and  fibre,  the  latter  might  be  easily 
separated.  One  planter  calculates  that  it  could  be  afforded  for 
£9  13s.  4d.  per  ton.  Some  very  useful  and  tough  kinds  of  pa- 
per have  been  made  from  the  plantain,  and  some  of  finer  quality 
from  the  same  material  in  France. 
All  the  plants  which  have  been  already  mentioned  are  devoid 
of  true  bark,  and  are  called  endogenous  in  structure.  Simple 
pressure  between  rollers,  and  washing,  would  appear  to  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  separation  of  the  fibres  of  most  of  them.  But  the 
following  families  of  plants  are  all  possessed  of  true  bark,  which 
requires  to  be  stripped  off,  usually  after  the  stems  have  been 
steeped  in  water,  before  their  respective  fibres  can  be  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  vegetable  matter. 
The  flax  plant  abounds  in  fibre,  but  this  is  too  valuable  to  be 
converted  into  paper.  India,  however,  grows  immense  quanti- 
ties of  the  plant  on  account  of  its  seed  (linseed),  which  is  both 
consumed  in  the  country  and  exported  in  enormous  quantities, 
but  nowhere  is  the  fibre  turned  to  any  account.  This  is  no  doubt 
owing  to  the  climate  not  favoring  the  formation  of  soft  and 
flexible  fibre  ;  but  the  short  fibre  which  is  formed  and  might  be 
easily  separated,  would  be  valuable  for  paper-making,  and  might 
add  to  the  agriculturist's  profits  without  much  additional  out- 
lay. 
Some  valvaceous  plants  are  cultivated  on  account  of  their 
fruits,  being  used  as  articles  of  diet,  as  the  Okhro  (Hibiscus  es- 
culentus}  of  the  West  Indies  and  of  the  United  States.  The 
Ramturai  of  India  is  closely  allied  to  it,  and  is  cultivated  for  the 
same  purposes.  Both  plants  abound  in  fine  flexible  fibre,  which 
is  not,  but  might  be  easily,  separated,  and  afford,  a  considerable 
supply,  especially  if  the  cultivation  was  extended  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  towns.  Paper  is  made  from  a  species  of  Hibiscus 
in  Japan,  and  Hibiscus  8 abdariff a  is  cultivated  in  India  on  ac- 
count of  its  jelly-yielding  calyxes.  Numerous  other  species  of 
Hibiscus,  of  Sida,  and  of  other  genera  of  this  family  abound  in 
warm  climates ;  several  are  cultivated  in  different  countries,  as 
Hibiscus  Canabinus  and  Sida  Tilicefolia  in  China  ;  more  might 
be  so.  They  grow  quickly  and  to  a  large  size,  and  abound  in 
fibrous  material  of  a  fine,  soft,  flexible  quality,  on  which  account 
