OCR Text |
Show 4 the plantin but one locality gives some conception of th importance of thefiber to the papermakersat that period PAPERMAKIN IN INDO-CHIN The Daplne involucrata of Indo-China grows best in a alluvial soil rich in humus; the trees are well adapted t the constant changes of temperature of the Tonkin an Annam climate. In growing the plants theseeds are sow in February or March, according to the temperature an should the heat of the sun wilt the seedlings they must be. proteéted with light screens made of palm leaves. Twelv months after the seeds have been planted the young tree are transplanted with three to five feet separating cac plant. The large acreage devoted to the trees in Anna forty years ago would now be exceptional as the land allotted to the cultivation of the «Paper Tree of Tonkin at the present time does not comprise more than five o sixacresin eachseparate planting. In August or September,after three years of growth, the branches of the tree are cut, but not until the plantsareabout ready to flower These branches are from three tosix feet in length with thickness of stem of from one half to oneinch. Thenum ber of branches given out by asingle treevaries froma hal dozen to three dozen,according to thesoil, the care give the trees,and theirgeneral hardihood. As will be later explained, the bark from the branches yields the cherishe papermaking fiber A single Daphne tree in its third year of growth wil yield, on the average, about twelve ounces of fresh bar oraboutfourand a halfounces of dried bark. Asagenera |