10 THREE NEW PLANT INTRODUCTIONS. 



doubtless carried this cover for years, neatly packed away somewhere 

 about his cart. The "rikisha " coolies in the large cities wear rain 

 mantles of this oiled paper which cost less than 18 cents and last for 

 a year or more with constant use. 



An oiled tissue paper, which is as tough as writing paper, can be 

 had at the stationers for wrapping up delicate articles. Every farm- 

 house has its stock of wrapping paper which has been in use for several 

 years and seems as strong and flexible as ever. It has been tanned 

 with the fermented juice of green persimmons and made into "shibu 

 garni," which is more impervious to moisture than ordinary paper and 

 much tougher. 



In the tea factories, the piles of paper sacks filled with tea are made 

 of shibu garni, and 8-year-old sacks covered with paper patches are a 

 common sight. It is said that these tanned sacks keep the tea in better 

 condition than any other sort, and that they last with careful use for 

 man} r years. Grain and meal sacks are almost alwaj-s made of this 

 same paper in Japan, for it is not easil} r penetrated by weevils and 

 other insects. 



But perhaps the most remarkable of all the papers which find a 

 common use in the Japanese household are the leather papers of which 

 the tobacco pouches and pipe cases are made. They are almost as 

 tough as French kid, so translucent that one can nearly see through 

 them, and as pliable and soft as calfskin. These tobacco pouches quite 

 change one's notions of the characteristics of paper, for the material of 

 which they are made is as thick as cardboard, but as flexible as kid. 

 Even woven fabrics of which the warp is paper and the woof cotton 

 are manufactured, and these find a place in the Japanese household, 

 while the use of paper napkins and handkerchiefs, umbrellas, and 

 lanterns is as much a part of home life in Japan as the use of cheap tin 

 articles is in America. The country is rich in the possession of these 

 conveniences, any one of which would be an addition to the comfort of 

 a European peasant or an American farmer. But the reason for this 

 remarkable use of paper articles does not lie wholly in the absence of 

 cheap skins, though it is true that few domesticated leather-producing 

 animals exist in Japan. The quality of the papers themselves makes 

 them suitable, as ours are not, to these various purposes. 



In strong contrast with those of the Occident, these are bast papers, 

 made from the inner bark of shrubs or small trees, while the papers 

 of Europe and America are either from wood pulp, the macerated 

 stems of wild grasses, or the cotton and linen rags of the ash barrels. 

 It is not a pleasant thought that the brilliant white note paper which 

 your hand rests upon may have in it the fibers from the filth}' garment 

 of some Egyptian fellah after it has passed through all the stages of 

 decay until it is saved by a ragpicker from the gutter of an Egyptian 

 town; and yet it is a fact that hundreds of tons of Egyptian rags are 



