Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-08-02
THE ma PLANT AND GRASS CLOTH OF CHINA
Extracted from an unpublished york 5y AARON
HAI0HT PALMER, entitled Japan, &C., Opened"
Chapter XI, On the articles Of Export and
Import Of China.
ron rHx NATIONAL IsrrIIrsrscxa

K
The Chinese comprise under the general of MG many
plants whose botanical characters place under different
families The shng ma, the chuh md, ung md tien md,
Aah ma, the peh chU maj the pi md, and the po md
those commonly cultivated and the fbres Of which are
used 10 the manufacture Of the Chinese grass CLOTH Several
OF them used only therapeutic agents. The cloth is
into pieces and into handkerchie The
pnt is chiefly to India and the United States. There h
also species Of grass cloth made from the kohl which has
likewise place the phsrmacopsia of China II gener
ally known to the feregn merchants resident in China that
this s consumed by the population Of the empire
in immense quantities, and in its various degrees Of quality
may be found in almost every description of textile fabric In
the largest cables Of their unk and 10 the choicest eI
fure oi clothing worn BY the luxurious classes.
The chuh md has been commonly regarded the urica
niuea Osbeck notices it in his Flora Sinenss and
Loureo describes and says it is cultivated m abundance In
China and AMMAN. DR.. Macgowan clssfes belonging
the natural order Of urtieac, cGsabis hemp, but DIFF
fering from onnabs saUG sufficiently another
des gnaion, and he calls it cannGbGs sncnss II has M
regular cellular root of yeowish color which sends ur
annually ten fifteen, or more stems TO the height of from
Feet the peh ch md the 10 ma, the no MAJ
and the described by RoDdoi species Of sda
OF c0rctOrus The sMg ma, according to Morrison's Die
onay does denote any particular species but the bres
soaked and hAcheed. - ~ 5,
Dr. Ainsie in his " "Matea Indica," Gays that the cor
chorus Capsor the lin ma of Loureiro extensively
cultivated in China especially in the vicinity Of Canton
where It is employed for the purposes hemp cloth
being manufactured Of the 6bres Of its stalks Its amen
boiled in me-waer and exposed to the become fex
ible and white and suitable for weaving into cloth.
Stanton, inhs Of Macartney's embassy China
describes this plant the uca niueG species Of nee
Mr. Fortune speaks o species OF urtca, growing at Chu
ssn both wild and cultivated three four feet high, the
bres Of which prepared and sold for manufacturing into
ropes and cables.
Dr. Roxburg that the grass cloth Of China is made
from the plant (urfca teacssia) that yields the fibre
called c0o0ce by Marsden in his History of Sumara Il is
found in nearly al parts Of the Indian Archipelago and is
as readily cultivated as the willow from cuttings The Ma
lays he Observes the bark for sewing and twne,
and for making shingnets COL Lowe, in his dissertation
Penang and Province Wellesley, audes the plant,
and by the name Of "a me- yielding sort Of hemp,
and used for the purposes and he states that might
be- easily manufactured into the linen which In China is
called grass cloth. "he Chinese here, he adds "ca the
plant co and aege that the that which grows in
China, s used for making the cloth just mentioned"
According Tbunberg {" Flora Japonca) it grows in
Japan-the tica the fibre is said equal
This same description Of urica nete Is also Indigenous
to The Philippine Islands, learn from the Flora Fip
ma" BY DnFr Manuel Blanco This plant he observes.
common 10 the northern part Of the island Luxon and
in the Ba,an islands, attaining the height Of yard
more The prepared bark is spun with thread and woven
into cloth From il is made, il is said the ceebraed linen
of Canton. OF this have been assured by many persons
But when in the north Of the island Of Ylocos learnt
respecting the cloth Of the Batan island that is made from
plant named Iabnis apsis As have ofen noticed
singular and xpected coincidence in the of plants
even OF ee c0untrcs was led 70 suspect nat the pant
employed for The above mentioned fabric be the
paeo called also pnis 10 Tsgao, and MT The uca nipea,
(U tena ss. Roxbo It remains for further investigation
to solve the doubt"
This plant 10 found in Darjeng, in Assam. the Shan
States and Cachsr, In the Tenasserm prosncea and the
straits Of Msaca In al those places lis fibre priced for
its Durability, fneness and strength. Col Barney, when
British resident s Ava, sent quantity Of the fibre to the
Agricultural Society Of Calcutta, and mentioned that the
Shsns this maes in maoufac every kind Of cord
age and weaving stout kind Of cloth OF which they make
bags It il called pan by those people. Although they
possess several other fbous yielding plants they neglect
them entirely in favor of this particular description, which,
consequence Of its great strength, they employ for
purpose, and that be and is frequently converted by
them into the finest sewing thread and for o,her domestic
nses.
China and southern Asia into England where il
suy manufactured by Mr. HWsfalI at Leeds, cloth
mixed with sleeps WOOL and for various other purposes II
said that the greatest difficulty has been
e,,oasih If .lf,no &