Papermaking by Hand in India

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1 dark and damp as a tomb. The exhibition was about to begin, and, as I sa in the armchair, felt almost as if T were attending a well-staged pmy,rathe than . demonsteation of papermakin in one of the outpasts of th of Kashmir has always been regardcd as the finest of lndu and mdayasin the past, the best paper is made fro in carlier periods hemp was admixed with these mbmnas, of each material determining the quality of the paper for the use to whic it was to be put. At present the material preferred is the well-worn line cloth that has been woven by hand in the district. Itis to be regretted tha during the past few years the papermakers have been using some inferio ‘materials, for in Kashmir, as in other parts of India, the paper craftsme arc attempting the impossible-to compete with machinemade paper (The pxcpnla(mn of the rag pulp will be explained further on in this tex inasmuch as w ach, the location of the stamping-mill, after w s 1 Nojiripi i paper is actually formed.) The prepared ra pulp is delivered to Nowshera from the pulp mill, about six miles distant ullock-cart, and consists of dry flat cakes each about two and a hal inches in thickness and some ten to fourteen inches square. At the pape mill these cakes, or slabs, of hardened pulp must be broken up and th t which reached his waist, and stamped vigorously with his legs and feet Photograph 18. This action scpaml:d the fibres, and as they were free om the compact cake he surface of the water. When th fibres were found to be s\lfllclemly dxsm(egmmd, the material was transerred from the stamping jar to the conveniently-placed wooden vat fro which the sheets of paper were to be dipped. This sunken vat, before whic Digtal image© 2005 Marriott Library University of Utah, All rihts reserved