Varnish-furnishing Trees.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVII, Issue 5203, 9 February 1892, Page 1

Varnish-furnish ing Trees.

Says the Illustrierte Garten Zeitung :~ " When, in 1875, Professor Rein returned from his travels in the Orient, and two years of whose time had been utilised in journeying in Japan, lie brought home some seeds of the best of the cultivated Japancso species of varnish-furnishing trees, which he presented to the botanical gardens at Frankfurt-on-the-Maino for cultivation. The seeds were sown in tin; open air, and about 40 plants grew. The soil in which they were sown and reared was rich and moist. The plants flowered with great freedom, and set seeds, which ripened completely. The German Government, at the end of August last year, deputed Professor Rein, who was at Bonn, to go to Frankfurt to put into practice the methods he had learnt in .Japan of extracting the juices of the plant, and manufacturing lacquer. These experiments brought satisfactory results. In Japan, the lacquer harvest is begun in July, and the Professor believes that equally good trees can be obtained here as there. The question is: Is the lacquer as good as that obtained in Japan ? and the point is to be settled by scientific investigation. Experiments have proved that on cool days the flow of sap was very small, whilst on warm ones the flow was abundant. The trees which have been tapped can, after a short interval, bo again operated on."