The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1872-07-25
HOW RICE-PAPER is MADE.

The rice paper plant (Arazi0 papyrJ-
era) grows naturally in China and Japan,
where the inhabitants carefully cultivate
it upon the hills and high-lying ground.
In the autumn of each year, before the
leaves fall, the Japanese cut of the
young shoots and cut them into slips,
which are tied UP in bundles and boiled
in large copper kettles or caldrons closely
shut down 1t is boiled until the bark
has peeled off the wood, when the former
is carefully dried and stored away for
future use.
When it is required for paper-making
it is thoroughly soaked IN water for
three or Jour hours, after which the
brown skin is scraped off. At the same
time the bark which covered the younger
shoots is separated from the older and
tougher sorts, from which an inferior pa
per is made. Bark which has been kept
for some years is only fit to make the
commonest packing paper, and is manu-
featured with less care. When the bark
is we'll cleaned, and arranged in order &C
cording to it's quality, it is again boiled
until the matter separates into filamen-
tous substance. This boiling Is succeed
ed by another operation, called washing,
which is of great importance in the man
ufacture of the paper. If it is not con
tinued long enough, the paper will be OF
a coarse quality and if, on the ether
hand, the substance does not receive
enough boiling, the paper will be very
white, but too soft and greasy to write
upon. The pulp is placed in basket
which will admit the water on all sides,
and this is plunged into u river and stir
red about with violence for some time.
Then the substance is placed upon a
smooth table and beaten with wooden
rollers. After the beating, an Infusion
of rice is poured on il, and the mixture
is suffered to stand until dry, when the
substance is raised leaf by leaf in the
form of paper. These leaves are placed
between boards, and the remaining rnois-
ture gradually pressed out. According
to another account, the stem is cut into
lengths of ten or twelve inches, and the
pith forced out and placed In hollow
bamboos, where it sWells out to its natur~
al bulk, and dries into a compact mass
This pith is cleverly cut by workman,
who holds sharp knife against the side
of the cylinder, which is then turned
round, so that the p1th is cut into a
broad strip about four feet long. This is
cut up into small sc uares, and sold in
packets for various purposes. It is sup
posed that the paper made from the pith
is the rice paper which is imported into
this country. 1t can not be made until
the tree has obtained considerable
bulk, and is too old to produce many
shoots such as are used i'll the first pro-
cess.
The tree from which this paper IS made
is particularly abundant in the island of
Formosa. 1t is at first a small. shrub, but
after Towering it throws out several
branches, and grows to height of about
twenty-five feet. It is generally cut
down before its full maturity, because
the pith and bark degenerate in the older
parts. Several large palmate leaves
crown the stem. 1t has been supposed
by many botanists that there are two or
three different species of plants from
which the Chinese make their paper, and
there arc, apparently, several ways of
manufacturing it.