Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 November 1882 — Lacquer. [ARTICLE]

Lacquer.

How many people who are lost in admiration at the exquisite skill of the eastern workman know anything about his methods of work or are able to appreciate the labor and perseverance required for the production of his delicate wares? Some curious information in one at least of the trades may bo found in a newly-issued report of one of the British consuls on the lacquer industry of Japan, in which are described the various processes through which lacquer passes from the planting of the tree to the completion of the decoration. Much difficulty has been experienced in procuring the information, ns nlay well be believed when we are told that a large manufacturer was quite unaware of the method of tapping the trees, and had never seen the wood itself, while his head workman hardly knew the name of a single article of his trade. Ono of the most interesting parts of the little blue-book is that dealing with the cultivation of the tree itself. Growing in all parts of the main island, it flourishes principally from Tokio northward. An average tree ten years old should be about ten feet high, with a trunk three inches in diameter, the best lacquer being obtained from trees from one to two hundred years old, though the usual age at which they are tapped is ten years. The process of tapping is a tedious one, occupying many days, and requiring a number of tools, such as a bark-scraper, a scraping-sickle,a spatula, and a pot to hold the sap. After the sap from the trunk has been gathered the branches are lopped oft’ and tapped in their turn, the bark also being utilized. After the sap has been taken the exhausted tree, which remains the property of the seller, is cut down by him and is used for firewood, for building purposes, or for making boxes. In the northern provinces very old and large trees are met with in considerable quantities. These were kept for the sake o f their berries, from which the wax used for the Japanese candles was obtained. A good workman is expected during the season to tap an average of 1,000 trees ten years old, the annual yield of lacquer being about 130,000 gallons. — Philadelphia Telegraph.