362 PREPARATION OF THE TCHOU MA, 
The first layer of tchou-ma is coarse and hard, and is only good for making 
common materials; the second is a little more supple and fine; the third, 
which is the best, is used for making extremely fine light articles. 
Steeping and Bleaching the Tchou-ma. 
The stems are tied up in little sheaves and placed on the roof of a house, 
in order that they may be moistened by the dew at night, and dried again by 
the sun in the day. : 
In the course of from five to seven days they become perfectly white. If 
the weather be cloudy or rainy the stems are placed under cover in a current 
of air. If they are wetted by the rain they immediately turn black. : 
Another author’ says, after peeling the fibres they are tied in skeins, 
arranged in a circle, and steeped for a night in a pan of water; they are then 
spun on awheel. This done, they are again steeped in water containing the 
ashes of burnt mulberry wood. 
Having taken them from the pans they are divided into packets of 5 oz. 
weight each; the packets are placed for a night in a tub of a mixture con- 
sisting of a cup of pure water and an equal quantity of powdered chalk to 
each packet. 
The next day the chalk is got rid of, and the fibres are boiled in water 
containing straw ashes, by which process they become white and supple. 
Being now dried in the sun they are again boiled in pure water; they are 
then stirred about in more water, which finishes the cleansing process, and 
lastly they are dried in the sun. 
This done, the fibres are joined end to end on the wheel so as to make 
long threads, which form the warp and the woof, and are manufactured into 
stuff in the usual way. 
Another author says, after having spun the fibres of tchou-ma, they are 
boiled in lime water, and when cool, carefully washed in pure water. Then 
by means of a bamboo sieve, placed on the surface of the water, they are 
spread out in equal layers in order that they may be as it were half wetted 
below, and half dried above. As night approaches, they are taken out, 
strained and dried : the same process is repeated the next and following days, 
until the threads are perfectly white. They are then, but not before, fit for 
being made up. 
According to another process, the tchou-ma is first soaked, then spun and 
made up, instead of being soaked after the spinning. 
Other persons again take the fresh fibres, expose them at night to the dew, 
and in the day to the sun; then spin and weave, bleaching last of all. 
Others, lastly, following those who employ the plant Ko, cut the stems, 
soften the fibres in the steam of boiling water, then weave, and do not 
bleach at all, Fibres thus prepared give a material that is more supple 
and fibrous. 
Mode of gathering the best seeds of Tchou-ma. 
When seeds of tchou-ma are wanted for the purpose of sowing, those which 
are found on the main shoots are to be preferred. In the ninth month, after 
the period choang-kiang (after the 2d of October), the seeds are collected 
and dried in the sun; they are then mixed with damp sand, and put in a 
bamboo basket, carefully covered with straw. This precaution is needed, 
for if the seeds are frozen they will not grow. The seeds of the lateral 
shoots are not fit for sowing. Before sowing, the seeds are thrown into water 
and those that sink are used, while the others are of no use. : ; 
The seeds are sown before the first half of the first month. The best seeds 
are those which are spotted black. After they are sown they are covered 
with ashes. Ifthey are sown thick the plants coming from them will be weak 
