January, 1910] 



71 



Miscellaneous. 



surface a layer of loose soil, which 

 serves to prevent the escape of moisture 

 by evaporation. In the majority of 

 cases it will be necessary to conserve 

 the moisture of two seasons for a single 

 crop; and early, deep ploughing, sum- 

 mer tilling of the land, and so arranging 

 the crops that two seasons' rainfall will 

 be largely utilised for each crop, are 



the means of securing the desired results* 

 The dry-land farmer cannot afford to 

 be at all careless about any of these 

 operations. He should also remember 

 that every weed allowed to grow in 

 his cultivated crops saps its proportion 

 of the moisture from the land, and thus 

 robs him of a portion of his just dues. 



Correspondence. 



DEATH BY EATING POISONOUS 

 FRUITS. 



Dear Sir,— The annexed cutting ap- 

 pears in the Ceylon Observer of Friday, 

 August 20th :— ' 



"A woman, 30 years of age, of Nuge- 

 goda, died in hospital this morning, 

 having eaten poisonous fruits. She went 

 to the jungle to pick firewood, and there 

 was attracted by fruit on a tree. Pluck- 

 ing one she ate it, and finding it tasty, 

 plucked three more and ate them. On 

 returning home a native doctor was 

 summoned, and he advised her removal 

 to hospital. The fruit was called 

 Hondala. The doctors could not cure 

 her and she expired this morning." 



"Hondala" is the Sinhalese name for 

 Wodecca palmata, one of the Passi- 

 floraceae. It is a common plant in the 

 jungles, with a showy orange-coloured 

 fruit containing black seeds surrounded 

 by a sweetish white pulp. 



I can speak from bitter experience of 

 the extremely irritant character of the 

 poison, as I very nearly died from the 

 merest taste of two or three seeds. To 

 the best of my recollection, I only bit 

 through the seeds and pulp and im- 

 mediately ejected them. But within an 

 hour I began to vomit violently, and 

 continued doing so, at intervals of a few 

 minutes, all through that night and— at 

 gradually longer intervals— throughout 

 the following day. The poison then 

 worked lower and caused intense griping 

 and diarrhoea, from which I did not 

 wholly recover for nearly a week. 



Yours, etc., 

 E, E. GREEN. 



PAPER INDUSTRY IN JAPAN. 



21-35, Nakamura, Yokohama. 

 Dear Sir, — By way of response to an 

 article on the " Paper and Papier Mache 

 in Bengal " by Mr. D. N. Mookerjee, m,a„ 

 which appeared in your Magazine of 



October number, I venture to write on 

 the subject of hand-making bast paper 

 industry of Japan. 



Our process of manufacture is essenti- 

 ally same as in Bengal with the exception 

 of some improvement in tools, some- 

 what larger in sizes of paper made 

 and undoubted superiority of materials 

 used here. Amongst the so-called paper- 

 makers there are very few who solely 

 subsist in the avocation, but mostly they 

 are semi-agriculturists even in the noted 

 paper-making districts, — the artisan who 

 produces the finest art paper in the 

 world at least cultivates enough food 

 stuff for his own use. Paper made in 

 cold season is much better, as our 

 vegetable mucilage gets decomposed 

 quicker in warm seasons and the paper 

 is not made all the year round. This 

 change of occupation may do good for 

 their existence, as the paper-maker's lot 

 is hardest drudgery everywhere. 



Materials. 



(1) Gampi — Wickstroemia pauciflora, 

 shrub attaining 5-8 feet high, growing 

 wild along the southern fringe of Japan 

 in the climate where camphor trees 

 thrive, from the bast the celebrated 

 Japanese copying is made. The pure 

 pulp costs as high as two shillings per lb. 

 The supply is getting exhausted fast, 

 because, if cultivated, the plant loses the 

 original quality and the fibre gets very 

 weak in strength. 



(2) Broussonetia papyrifera is the most 

 useful plant and extensively cultivated 

 all over the country but requires no 

 attention — three to five years old with 

 stems of an inch diameter at the base, 

 6-8 ft. high produce the best fibre. Very 

 strong paper is made as is used for the 

 Japanese paper door panels, umbrellas, 

 lanterns ; where tension strength is need- 

 ed no other paper can take its place. 



(3) Edgeworthia papyrifera, — weakest 

 in strength, but fine paper is made such 

 as the Japanese bank notes, document 

 paper, known as the vellum paper, just 

 like the European imitation paper called 

 the "Japan." 



