OF FOREST-TREES. 



45 



which is called the White Mulberry, which I have had sent me out CHAP. ir. 

 of Languedoc ; one of a broad leaf, found there and in Provence, whose ^^--'"v'"^ 

 seed being procured from Paris, where they have it from Avignon, should 

 be thus treated in the seminary. 



3. In countries where they cultivate them for the silk-worm and other 

 uses, they sow the perfectly mature berries of a tree, whose leaves have 



papyrifera. Ksemp. Araoen. 471- Cultivated Mulberry, with leaves like the Dead Nettle, 

 and oftvkose bark paper is made. TtiE papeR'MUlberry. 



This sort gl-ows naturally in China and Japan, where the inhabitants make paper of the hark. 

 They cultivate the trees for that purpose on the hills and mountains, much after the same 

 manner that Osiers are cultivated here, cutting down the young shoots in December. These 

 being divided into rods of three feet in length, or shorter, are gathered into bundles 

 to be boiled. If, by delaying the boiling, the shoots are dried, they must be previously 

 softened in common water for twenty-four hours. The bundles are boiled very closely 

 together, and placed erect in a large copper properly closed ; the boiling being continued 

 until the separation of the bark displays the naked wood. Then the stalks are loosed out of 

 the bundles, and allowed to cool ; after which, by a longitudinal incision, the bark is stripped 

 off. This, being the material of the paper, is dried, (the wood being rejected,) and, when 

 dried, is kept to undergo the farther preparation when convenient; which consists in 

 purification and selection. To be purified, the bark is put three or four hours in water ; 

 when, after being sufficiently softened, the cuticle, which is of a dark colour, together with 

 the greenish surface of the liber, or inner bark, is pared off; a knife being used for that 

 purpose, which they call Kaadsj Kusdggi ; that is, the Razor of Kaadsj, or the Paper-Mul- 

 berry. At the same time, the stronger bark is separated from the more tender ; the former 

 of which makes the whitest and best paper ; the latter a dark, weak, and inferior kind. 

 If any bark appear that is old, it is likewise set aside for a thicker kind, and of worse 

 quality. By the same operation, they throw together into this last class the knotty parts of 

 the bark, and those which have any fault or blemish. The bark thus purified, and divided 

 into classes, according to its quality, is boiled in any lye that is clear and strained ; care being 

 taken to stir the substance, as soon as it begins to boil, with a strong reed, and to pour in 

 of the lye gradually as much as is necessary for stopping the evaporation, and restoring the 

 liquor that is lost. The boiling is to be given over when the materials can be split, by 

 a slight touch of the finger, into fibres and down. The lye employed in the process in 

 question, is made of any kind of ashes, in this manner : two pieces of Wood are placed cross- 

 ways over a vessel : upon this cross is laid straw, and over the straw wet ashes ; over which 

 is poured boiling water ; and this imbibing the salt of the ashes, is permitted to flow into the 

 vessel placed under it, and is termed lye. To the boiling succeeds the washing, which is a 

 thing of some moment ; as, if washed a shorter time than it ought, the paper will be strong, 

 indeed, but rougher, and of an inferior quality ; if a longer time, it will be whiter, but of a 

 fat consistence, lax, and less fit for writing. Being sufficiently washed, the materials are put 

 upon a thick, smooth, wooden-table, and stoutly beaten together by two or three slaves with 

 battons, made of a hard wood called Kus-no-ki, (the Camphire-tree,) into a pulp, resembling 

 macerated paper ; which, being put in water, separates like the grains of meal. Thus pre- 

 pared, it is put into a narrow vat ; an infusion of rue, and a mucous water of the infusion of 



Volume II. G 



