This it must be admitted has become an important question for consideration, it being evident that unless some "_New Material_" suitable for the purpose is speedily introduced, the "PAPER TRADE," one of the most important in the UNITED KINGDOM, will be seriously crippled; meanwhile of necessity high prices are maintained, and as a natural consequence the consumer suffers. FIBRE-PRODUCING PLANTS--SOURCES OF SUPPLY. The high value of land precludes the cultivation of any fibrous material exclusively for paper-making in England, even if this climate was suitable for its growth; with the exception indeed of "FLAX" and "HEMP," it would appear that northern latitudes are not favourable for the production of fibre-producing plants, and therefore it is to warm or _tropical countries_ alone any reliable supply of "NEW MATERIAL" can be looked for. In the _East_, and _West Indies_, in her _Colonies_ and _Dependencies_, England possesses an inexhaustible supply of fibre-producing plants; in India especially, almost every plant abounds more or less in fibre. In China and Japan, as also in India, from the earliest times, paper has been made exclusively from _raw indigenous virgin fibres_, and the paper produced in these countries is in consequence generally extremely strong and tough, and although unbleached, and not made in a fashion adapted to European requirements, affords ample and conclusive evidence of the valuable supply of material at our disposal. VEGETABLE FIBROUS, or FIBRE-PRODUCING PLANTS, are divided by BOTANISTS into two distinct CLASSES or DIVISIONS: ENDOGENS, or inside growers; EXOGENS, or outside growers. From the former are obtained the fibres known as "MANILLA HEMP" or "ABACA" (from the _Musa textilis_ or _Plantain_), the "ALOE," "AGAVÉ" (or "_Pita_ _Fibre_"), the "YUCCA," "BROMELIA PENGUIN," "SISAL HEMP" (or _Hannequin_); "PINA FIBRE" from the "PINE APPLE" (_Ananassa sativa_), "MAROOL or MOORVA" (_Sanseveira Zeylanica_), "NEW ZEALAND FLAX" (_Phormium tenax_), &c.; "MAIZE" (or _Indian Corn_), "RICE," and other "CEREAL STRAWS," "ESPARTO," "DISS," and various "Sedges," "Reeds," and "Grasses," the latter including "BAMBOO," and "SUGAR CANE," are also comprised in this Class. The FIBRES, or FIBROUS TISSUE enveloping the _Stems_ of _Herbaceous Plants_, known as "HEMP," "FLAX," "JUTE," "HIBISCUS," (_Gombo_ or _Okhro_), "RHEA," or "CHINA-GRASS" (_Urtica nivea_), "SUNN HEMP" (_Cratolaria juncea_), &c., as also the LACE BARKS (so called), such as the "ADANSONIA DIGITATAS" (from the _Baobab_ tree), the "NEPAL PAPER PLANT" (_Daphne cannabina_), the "PAPER MULBERRY" (_Broussonetia papyrifera_), &c., constitute the latter Class.