Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1872-10-11
.y.sP.s.rBSR PAPER.

J.EP.g.TBSR P.fPBR.
The manufacture OF paper is one of the
most rem arkable of the native industries
of Japan. An account, recently obtained
throu gh the British consuls at Kanagawa,
Nagasaki, and Osaka, contains many inter-
esting facts, both as to the extent to which
the manufacture is carried and the raw ma
terial from which, in almost endless varie
ty the article is made. No nation in the
world, perhaps, has displayed greater in
genuity, skill, and patient industry in a.
dapting paper to so many useful as well as
ornamental purposes. Inquiries submit
ted TO the Department in respect to this
manufacture have induced brief state
ment of the facts of which 1t is in posses
sion. These facts, by no means as full as
could be desired, in an agricultural point
of view, are not without value as indcat-
ing the practicabiity of cultivatng in the
varied climate of our own country, those
prod uctions which have supplied the Jap
anese with such economical materials for
the manufacture of paper.
The paper-mulberry, (Mdkodzu), the Ka-
il tree or shrub, and the Makaso and other
plants, are cultivated in Japan for the man
ufa cture OF paper. The paper-mulberry
has been thus usel for two hundred and
fifty years. From very ancient date, and
up to the year a. d. $50, or thereabous,
silk, with facing of linen, was used in
Japan for writing upon, as were thin wood
shavings. In that year paper was import
ed from Corea, and no other paper than
that appears to have been known in Japan
till about the year GOO, when the manufac-
ture was introduced bya priest from Corea,
who had probably learned the art from the
Chinese. A son of the then reignng Mi
kado learned of this priest how to make
paper. That first made, of whatever mate
rial, lacked 81 rength and durability, easily
became worm-eaten, aud did not take the
ink well. The Mikado's son first used sue
cessfully in the manufacture the mulberry,
which, hence, came to be called the paper
mulberry; he also caused it to be planted
throughout the country, and the mode Of
maxi ng paper from it TO be extensively
promulgated.
The paper-mulbcrry is cut down to the
root an nually for four years in the fifth
year, it becomes a dense shrub from six to
ten feet high, when the shoots, or stalks,
are cut, steamed, the bark stripped of,
dried, and prepared for making paper.
| This is done by washing and boiling the
| bark, and pounding it with clubs into the
requisite pulpy state. The paper is set or
| formed in frames, or selves of bamboo, by
| dexterous manipulation, somewhat after the
| old method in this country of making pa
| per by hand, in sheets, the size of which
was regulated by the frame or mold. The
young wood is preferred for paper materi
al, and the inner and whittier bark of the
youngest branches is selected for the better
qualities of paper.
The kali tree, also used extensively for
paper making, is a shrub which grows in
all parts of Japan, and is cultivated in The
same manner as the mulberry. The plant
is said to resemble our willow, and like
that thrives well near water. There seems
TO be no reason why it and the paper-mul-
berry should not flourish in this country,
and it is supposed that paper can he man
uiactured from the bark of either at n
cheaper rate than from equally good mate
| rial which we now use. The paper-mul-
berry has indeed been cultivated in the
grounds of the Department of Agriculture
| with the same success which has attended
| the introduction of the Chinese mulberry /;
so that the capabilities of the milder eli
mates of our country for its growth may be
considered as having been demonstrated.
The makaso and several other plants
used for making paper are cultivated in
the same manner, and manufactured by
the same general process as the mulberry,
| the ma anipulations varying only with the
classes and qualities of the paper produced.
| The kinds of paper that are made are al
most innumerable, some of them possess
ing extraordinary qualities, and the pur-
poses for which they are used are surpris-
ingly various, embracing the most delicate
as well as the toughest objects, and involv-
ing ingenious processes and great skill and
| dexterity in their manufacture. Paper is
made in imitation of leather and of wafer
| proof cloth, and possesses all their qualities.
This is done by an admixturc of paste or
glutinous substance which is produced by
boiling fern and other roots, addinga juice
expressed from unripe persimmons. 1t is
dyed of di fIerent colors, and is very
tough and strong material, perfectly i'm
pervious to water, and capable of resisting
intense heat. 1t is used for boxes, trays,
and similar purposes, and even for sauce
pans, which sustain no injury over a hot
charcoal fire. Prepared with oil, it is used
for rain-coats, and as a substitute for glass
in windows. Waterproof great coats,
made of this species of paper, may be pur-
chased for about 35 cents apiece, and they
are completely impervious in a storm of
rain, although very light. The japanese
persimmon, which seems to be an essential
element of this description of paper, is in
process of successful culture in the gar
dens of the Department of Agriculture. 1t
does uot differ in its constituents from that
which is indigenous to the southern por-
tions of this country; but ii is much larger
and altogether Of superior quality,
and its successful culture in this country,
which may be regarded as assured, is a
matter therefore of commercial as well as
agricultural importance.
The japanese are wonderfully proficient
in giving TO paper great hardness and