The paper mulberry, the Broussonetia papyrifera, which frunished the ancient clothing of the South Sea Islanders, and from which the Javanese rnanufacture a cheap paper, of toughness and durability approaching to parchment, is of value.
Bast is the liber or cellular tissue, consisting of tough elongated vessels, which can often be separated and converted into fibrous material, useful for cordage and matting. That best known to Europe is a product of Russia, and obtained from the lime or linden tree, the Tilia Europea, and converted into mats and shoes. A large and interesting class of fibrous substances, which have hitherto attracted but little attention in S.E. Asia, is the barks of trees, many of which yield a strong and ready substitute for rope, and, from the quantity of tannin which some of them contain, they resist mois ture, and retain their strength for a long time. With a little care, and the employment of simple machinery, excellent ropes, mats, and baskets might be prepared from some of these substances, and they would pro bably find a ready sale for agricultural and commercial purposes. The Indian substitutes for bast, while they rank among the easiest grown and most extensively distributed of all its forest trees, usually suffer more from the axe of the woodman and the flames lighted by the cultivator of the jungle, etc., than almost any other class of trees. In places in Southern India where they were once abundant, trees are now rare. In forests under the Western-Ghats, far to the southward, they are still to be found in considerable numbers, but in such places the population is too scattered and migratory to take up the manufacture steadily and on an extensive scale. Provided they get a supply for making nets to catch the elk, or fetters for the tame elephant, they generally seek no more. For the latter purpose they freo nay use the bark of some of the Sterculia trees.
Batt/Units diphylla, called Autheo nar, Yepy, and Apa, Ilea a strong, coarse brown bark, of which the natives make temporary ropes for securing thatch, matting, or fences. The barks of several other Bauhinias aro used for the same purposes. Ara nar is the bark of the
Bauhinia pru•vifolia, of which matches for native guns aro made. This class also includes tho barks of the banian, Ficus Indica, or Ala nar ; of the pipal, Ficus religiose, or Arasa nar ; of the lieu racemosa, Atti nar ; of the Ficus oppositifolia, Bodda nar ; Ficus, sp. (?) Cullethy nar ; of the bark of the Ficus tomentosa, also the barks of several species of acacia, as the babul (Acacia Arabica), or Karoovalurn nar ; the white acacia, or Oday nar (Aeacialeueophlrea); Velvaila nar,Wrightia tinctona ; and a number of other plants not yet iden tified.
The trailing roots, twigs, tendrils, and drops of a number of plants aro used for the same purposes.
The basts of the trans-Gangetic countnes are very numerous. The Theng-ban-sha, tho Pa-tha-yon-sha, the Sha-phyoo, the Ngan-tsoung-sha, Sha-nee, and Ee-gyw-ot-sha, aro the better lmown bards of Arakan ; and there the Eee-gyw-ot-sha strips to 5 to 6 feet in length, composed of several layers, of which one side is smooth and compact, and the layers on the other side thin but canceller, all having a considerable degree of toughness.
The bests of Akyab and Burma aro ileng-kyo-sha, Dam-sha, Tha-not-sha,Wa-pree-loo-sha, and Sha-goung, all used in preparing cordage for boats, nets, etc.; whole sale market price, 2 rupees 8 annas per maund, and all are of the inner bark of large trees.
The Sha-nee, Sha-phru, andTheng-ban-sha of Akyab ere most plentiful, and are used in preparing cordage for boats, nets, etc., and their wholesale market price is 1 rupee 12 annas per remind.
Tho Guand-young-sha of Akyab is used for cables and strong nets, the wholesale price being 3 rupees 4 annas per mattnd ; and all these fibres are much used by the inhabitants of that province.
Three bests, extensively used in Burma for making ropes, aro called That-poot-net-slia, Sha-laib-way, a.nd Sha-nee. These three bests appear to be the inner barks of various species of Sterculia and allied plants, which abound in the districts. They are strong and enduring in their nature, and some of them have been tested with satisfactory results.