I read that the Buddhist scriptures were originally written on the leaves of palm trees. Why was this done?

QUESTION: I read that the Buddhist scriptures were originally written on the leaves of palm trees. Why was this done?
ANSWER: At the time the scriptures were written paper had not been invented in India or Sri Lanka. Ordinary documents like letters, contracts, accounts and deeds were written either on animal skins, thin metal sheets or palm leaves. Buddhists didn’t like to use animal skins and writing the scriptures on metal sheets would have been both expensive and cumbersome and so palm leaves were used. After the leaves were specially prepared they were bound together with string and put between two wooden covers making them convenient and durable, just like a modern book. When Buddhism came to China the scriptures were written on silk or paper. About 500 years later the need to produce many copies of the scriptures led to the invention of printing. The world’s oldest printed books is a Chinese translation of one of the Buddha’s discourses published in 828 CE.