[p.1] BAMBOO,
CONSIDERED
AS A PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL.
WITH
REMARKS UPON ITS CULTIVATION AND TREATMENT.
SUPPLEMENTED BY
A CONSIDERATION OF THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE PAPER
TRADE IN RELATION TO THE SUPPLY OF RAW MATERIAL.
BY
THOMAS ROUTLEDGE.
LONDON:
E. & F. N. SPON, 48, CHARING CROSS,
NEW YORK:
446, BROOME STREET.
1875.
[p.3] This Pamphlet is printed on Paper made by the Author from Bamboo.
BAMBOO,
CONSIDERED AS A MATERIAL FOR PAPER
REMARKS UPON ITS CULTIVATION AND TREATMENT.
Of all the fibre-yielding plants known to botanical science there isnot one so well calculated to meet the pressing requirements of thePaper-trade as "Bamboo," both as regards facility and economyof production, as well as the quality of the "Paper-Stock" whichcan be manufactured therefrom: grown under favourable conditions ofclimate and soil, there is no plant which will give so heavy a crop ofavailable fibre to the acre, no plant which requires so little care forits cultivation and continuous production.
The rapidity of the growth of "Bamboo" is unequalled. AtGehzireh, the gardens of the Khedive of Egypt at Cairo, it has beenknown to grow nine inches in a single night. At Syon House, the Dukeof Northumberland's, stems of "Bambusa Gigantea" have attainedthe height of 60 feet in 12 weeks; and I have made "Paper-Stock"from a stem of "Bambusa Vulgaris," sent me by Dr. Hooker, from theRoyal Botanical Gardens at Kew, which, as measured by the gardener inthe Palm-house, grew at the rate of three feet in a single week; atChatsworth, the Duke of [p.4] Devonshire's, this same variety (the"Bambusa Vulgaris") has attained the height of 40 feet in 40 days.
Throughout the East Indies the "Bamboo" flourishes, forming indeedin many districts impenetrable jungles. It grows abundantly also inthe West Indies, in Central and South America, the Brazils, in Africaand Asia; in China especially, and in Japan, the plant is indigenous,and the natives cultivate it carefully, employing it for almost everyarticle of convenience and luxury; in fact, wherever heat and moistureexist, some species of the "Bamboo" will be found, or may be readilycultivated.
Attempts have from time to time been made in England, and elsewhere, toobtain from the "Bamboo" "Half-stuff" or "Pulp" suitablefor the manufacture of paper, and paper indeed has been made therefrom,but hitherto these attempts have neither industrially nor commerciallyattained successful results, and for the following reasons.
Hitherto the "Bamboo" has been collected and treated in acondition more or less of maturity, or without regard to its age;and when the plant has attained its full growth the woody fibre isextremely dense and indurated; when old, indeed, the exterior portionof the stem of many varieties of