188 TROPICAL AGRICULTURE 



are not cultivated and the material is therefore taken from the 

 wild plants. Few of the plants have ever become familiar to 

 the inhabitants of northern climates. 



Mitsumata {Edgeworthia papyrifera) is one of the three 

 most important plants used in the paper industries of Japan. 

 It is a small bush propagated by seed or cuttings and is cul- 

 tivated on a large scale in Japan. The material comes upon 

 the market in the form of raw stripped bast either bleached 

 or unbleached. The strips range in length from 6 to 8 feet 

 and are whitish or yellow in color. The yield of bast is about 

 6oo pounds per acre. The crop comes into bearing on the 

 second year and yields are obtained on alternate years there- 

 after. In manufacturing paper the material is treated some- 

 what in the same manner as tapa. 



Rice paper plant (Fatsia papyrifera) is native of Formosa, 

 where it grows extensively in the swampy forest of that island. 

 When fully grown it is a small tree branching quite freely at 

 the top. Thf stems are filled with pith of a fine texture, pure 

 white, and this material is extensively used in making Chinese 

 rice paper. 



Ganpi (Wikstrcsmia canescens) is native of Japan, but re- 

 lated species occur in various parts of the Tropics. Ganpi is 

 a shrub which is much cultivated for paper stock in Japan. 

 The shrub comes to bearing age at 3 to 7 years. The yield of 

 raw bark per acre annually is about 1,000 pounds. The large 

 proportion of the ganpi which comes into trade is obtained 

 from wild trees. W. viridiflora, a native of Hawaii, yields a 

 bast used by the Hawaiians for rope and twine. 



Rice straw is extensively used in Japan for making paper. 

 The annual produce of rice straw in Japan is about 15,000,000 

 tons. This material is not only used in making paper, but also 

 to a large extent in plait work for making bags, ropes, mats, 

 raincoats, sandals, hats, thatching, and for many purposes 

 which appear possible only by the help of the ingenuity and 

 patience of the Oriental. The Chinese and Japanese banana 



