39 PAPER IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



The sheets made probably average 18 to 24 inches in size. Much 

 very poor and coarse-textured paper is made here from old paper, 

 worked over several times with a small proportion of bast or bark 

 pulp, prepared by boiling the bark with wood ashes or lime; the 

 bast or bark is then beaten to separate the fiber, and a long fiber is 

 produced. 



The paper made of new material is of very superior quality and 

 is well adapted to its special uses. This is largely utilized as a 

 substitute for window glass by the Japanese, who paste small squares 

 of it in the lattice frames in the front of their dwellings. The lately 

 increased cost of bast pulp accounts to a great extent for the substitu- 

 tion of a less expensive but less durable article. The bast or inner 

 bark of several varieties of deciduous shrubs and trees furnishes the 

 long, tough, and pliable fiber from which the best qualities of hand- 

 made paper are made. 



The present cost of bast pulp is 9 sen (4% cents) per pound for 

 best and 7 sen (3^ cents) for inferior. 



Pulp made from the rough bark costs much less, and is used in 

 combination with cheap bast pulps. Wood and straw pulps are also 

 used with bast pulp to cheapen cost. 



It is said that considerable quantities of No. i pulp are brought 

 to Japan from Canada each month by Canadian Pacific steamers. 



The best quality of handmade paper is said to be made from a 

 combination of 70 per cent best bast pulp and 30 per cent of wood or 

 straw pulp. An exceedingly valuable treatise on the manufacture 

 of handmade paper in Japan and the materials from which it is made 

 may be found in Rein's Industries of Japan, published by Armstrong 

 & Son, New York. 



In regard to foreign machine-made paper, it may be said that it 

 is constantly coming into more general use in this country, both as 

 writing material and for printing purposes; it is also extensively 

 imported in blue, yellow, and white, for covering match boxes and 

 paper boxes of many kinds. 



IMPORTATION. 



The Japanese are fast becoming a nation of newspaper readers. 

 Some 2,500 daily and weekly publications are now issued, against 

 753 in 1895, and tne Y are fairly well patronized. The daily paper, 

 although generally limited in size, may be seen in the offices, stores, 

 and shops everywhere, and in the hands of many belonging to the 

 lower classes. The total number of issues of papers and publications 

 during the year 1895 was 409,429,528, a rapid increase over former 

 years. 



For Japanese newspaper use, a light weight is required, both in 



