Morning journal and courier., 1882-09-28
Japan's Lacquer Industry.
How the Famous VarnIsh of Which so Little is Really K knovvn Is Made.
 From the London GIobe.1

How the Famous VarnIsh of Which so Little is Really Known Is Made.
 From the London Globe.l
 In the report by Her Majesty's Acting Consul at Hakodate on the lacquer industry of Japan, he says that great difficulty has been experienced in obtaining thoroughly , trustworthy information, as not only are tn @ artiicers for the most part uneducated but they are entirely ignorant of what takes place in any other department except that to which they have been brought up; but hav- ing communicated direct with the persons who conduct the several branches, he hopes the following account is accurate The Iphus DernicJer0, the well known lacquer tree of Japan, is met with all over the main island and also in smaller quantities in Kiushiu and Shikoku, but it is from Tokio north wards that it principally fourishes, growing freely on mountains well as in the plains, thus indicating that moderate climate suits the tree better than a very warm one. The roots of vigorous young tree are taken, and pieces six inches long and the thickness of a finger are planted out in a slanting direction few inches apart, one inch being left expos ed above the ground. This takes place in the end of February and through March, according to the climate of the locality These cuttings throw strong shoot of from eighteen to twenty inches the first year, and are likewise planted out in the following spring. Under equally favorable circum-
 
 ! nearly 25 per cent. larger in girth, some two or three feet higher, and would yield nearly half as much more sap than the trees raised from seed. It has not hitherto been the GUS tom to bestow any special care on the trees after planting them out, but in cases where 1 leaf and other manure has been applied they are much finer. Of late years hillsides and l waste grounds alone have been used for lac quer plantations as, owing to the rise in the price of cereals and farm produce generally, 1 it does not pay the farmers to have their l land cumbered with trees. Those that have been hitherto planted along the borders of | the fields are being rapidly used and uproot- l ed, and, where practicable, mulberry trees ! arc planted instead, with view to rearing 1 silkworms. Nevertheless, as a good work.
 man is expected duiing the season to tap an | average of ], ,0Q0 trees ten years old, and as l the province of Yechizen alone Sends out
 about 1.5oo ''tappers' yearly to the various 1 lacquer districts, 1t will be seen that an i'm
 mense production annually takes place, stim
 ulated doubtless, by the demand for cheaI lacquered articles abroad. It should also bs | mentioned that to remedy the possible ex
 haustion of the supply, and in view of the
 great rise which has taken place in the price
 of lacquer, several companies are being pro jected to plant waste lands with the tree. ten year old tree, which some five years agt only cost from one to two sen, now costs ter sen, which, allowing even for the deprecia
 tion in the value of the paper currency. show
 a rise of about 800 per cent. There are som
 districts the lacquer obtained from which i
 best for certain kinds of work, but is not 8, l well adapted for others. The kind which i
 used for transparent lacquer is mixed in larg
 tubs to insure a uniform quality, and bein
 allowed to stand for some time (say, weel or ten days), the best portion, which IS ordi