AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 



mences, they are 18 to 2 m. in circumference. Hi-no-ki and 

 Sawara are more often found than Hiba. When, as is generally 

 the case, they are met with together, it is difficult at first glance 

 to distinguish between them, while the third variety is very diver- 

 gent in appearance. The fine yellow-green of the upper side of 

 the leaves, the blue-green and peculiar marking of the under 

 side in Thujopsis dolabrata, are so strikingly distinctive of this 

 most beautiful of cypresses that we cannot easily confound it with 

 other conifers. 



As has been previously said, the cypress forest is a cultivated 

 one. The seeds germinate best in the shade, which fact must be 

 duly considered in the cultivation. 



First of all in its value stands Hi-no-ki, which is particularly 

 sacred to ancestry cultus (Shinto worship), and is cultivated on 

 this account more than any other. The wood is white or pink, 

 smooth, light and very tough, fine grained, poor in resin, and 

 free from knots. It is preferred for lacquer ware, and used exclu- 

 sively for building Shinto temples. The palaces of the Mikado 

 and his family at Kioto were always built of Hi-no-ki wood, and 

 roofed with the bark of the tree, which when very old can be easily 

 cut into long strips. Criminals condemned to Harakiri (disem- 

 bowelling) were formerly presented with a dagger upon a small 

 white unlacquered table of Hi-no-ki wood, and on a similar one is 

 offered the food and drink to the gods at festivals. 



Sawara is distinguished in appearance only by a rather light 

 green crown, and on nearer observation by the different shape of 

 its small scale-like leaves and its wood, strikingly different from 

 that of Hi-no-ki, being of a reddish colour, rough, and not so 

 valuable. 



The wood of the Hiba is yellow, is marked by its durability in 

 water, and is therefore much used for stakes, as well as in ship 

 and bridge building. It is also employed in the same way as the 

 before-mentioned varieties for lacquer wares and window sashes or 

 Shoji, for which use, however, Hi-no-ki is much preferred to both 

 the other varieties. 



Various kinds of the previously mentioned cypresses have more 

 interest for the gardener than the forester. The following are not- 

 able only for their wood : 



19. Thujopsis IcBtevirens, Lindk, Jap. Nedjuko, which is often 

 taken for a smaller form of the Dolabrata, from which it is dis- 

 tinguished among other things by a bluish green colour. The 

 wood is fine and straight-fibred, similar to the former varieties, 

 and like them adapted to manifold uses, but does not rank in 

 value with Hiba. In its white sap-wood it is very similar to 

 Hiba, but in dark brown core it resembles more the Sugi. 



20. Cryptomeria japonica, Don., Jap. Sugi. While Hi-no-ki is 

 indeed the most valuable, Sugi is without doubt the most widely 

 employed of all the conifers of Japan. Young specimens are used 



