FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL 



265 



A CHINESE FAMILY WORKING A CAMPHOR TREE 



Few trees can rival the camphor in value. An average tree, twelve feet in circum- 

 ference at its base, will yield about fifty piculs of camphor (approximately 6,660 pounds), 

 which at the present market price is worth about $5,000. 



boats weigh anchor, a small party can be 

 seen in the stern, clustering about a char- 

 coal brazier — a woman busy dishing out 

 bowls of soup and macaroni, and men in 

 palm-leaf hats, their bronzed bodies 

 stripped to the waist, hurriedly scooping 

 up steaming threads with the aid of long 

 wooden chop-sticks. 



Every hour of the day the river is 

 aglow with life — women washing their 

 clothes ; the footsore washing their feet ; 

 duck-tenders giving their broods a swim ; 

 fishermen trying their luck; housewives 

 cleaning their vegetables and strips of 

 pork ; cattle and their owners fording 

 the stream at low tide ; and, at sunset, 

 dusky ghosts of sampans, laden with 

 families living up the river, gliding home- 

 ward against a jonquil sky. 



FORMOSA THE HOME OF CAMPHOR 



The population of Formosa is mainly 

 agricultural. The cultivation of rice, and 

 more especially sugar-cane, is encour- 

 aged by the government, and these are 

 grown in great quantities. 



However, the most interesting indus- 

 try is the production of camphor, and 

 it can truly be said to be peculiar to the 

 island, when it is remembered that For- 

 mosa holds a practical monopoly in the 

 world's market of this valuable drug. 



Before the war, Germany, by a secret 

 process, succeeded in manufacturing 

 some synthetic camphor, but so expensive 

 was the labor entailed that the artificial 

 product could not compete with the 

 natural camphor, nor is it likely to do so 

 for some time to come. 



Shortly after the Japanese came to 

 Formosa, 25 years ago, the camphor in- 

 dustry became a government monopoly. 

 Before that time there had been a great 

 deal of ruthless waste, both in the cut- 

 ting down of trees and in extracting 

 camphor from them. 



At first the Japanese, too, were care- 

 less in this respect, for the supply of 

 camphor trees seemed practically limit- 

 less, but the great increase in the demand 

 for the product in late years has made 

 scientific afforestation necessary. Now 



