It is also known as yeda urushi, or branch lacquer.

The sap obtained from the first 5 cuts above each notch is poor, containing, as it does, a large proportion of water; the middle 15 cuts produce the best sap, and the sap obtained from the last 5 incisions is poor, and lacks consistency. Again, the sap obtained from the ura - me (back marks) and tome (finishing) cuts, is very good, and dries quickly. The sap from the first 25 cuts is mixed and sold together; but the ura - me and tome sap is almost always mixed and sold separately. The operations above described kill the tree in one season, but frequently the tree is made to last 2 years or more by giving only half the number of incisions, and reserving the ura - me and tome cuts for the final year. The sap obtained the second and following years is, however, of an inferior quality, and this method is only resorted to by private individuals, who tap their own trees during intervals of farming. Ordinarily a wholesale dealer in lacquer buys so many thousand trees from the owner, and, as a matter of course, extracts the sap with as. little delay as possible, making a contract for the purpose with professional tappers.

A first - rate workman will receive over 100 yen (equal, at the present low rate of exchange, to nearly 13/. sterling) for the season, and can collect 4 1/2 tubs (equivalent to 18 gal.); but the average receive 75 yen, and collect proportionally less. The present price per tub of lacquer ranges from 90 to 100 yen. 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.

The roots of the young trees throw 3 to 5 shoots the following spring, and these can be used in 6 or 7 years. Of these 5 sprouts 3 are commonly much stronger than the other 2. In such cases, the strong ones only are tapped and cut down, the weaker ones being allowed a year or two longer to grow, when, receiving the whole of the nutriment, they shoot up in 1 year as much as an ordinary tree would in 3. After tapping and cutting down, fresh shoots to the number of 5 are again allowed to sprout, and so on, the root not seeming to become exhausted by the process; but when a very old tree is cut down, the roots will not give out new shoots. In the northern provinces, very old and large trees are met with in considerable quantities. These were kept for the sake of their berries, from which the wax used for the Japanese candles was obtained.

This was the more profitable use to which to put the tree, as a good tree, from 80 to 100 years old, yielded yearly, on an average, equal to 6s.; while the price of a 10 - year - old tree, to be used for extracting the sap, was under Is. 2d. Previous to the revolution of 1868, every tree reserved for making wax was officially registered, and the owner was not allowed to mutilate it in any way. Even if a tree died, he had to get official permission before removing the stump. The Shogun's Government, and also the local magnates, had large plantations of the lacquer - tree reserved for wax, but since the opening of the country to foreign trade, and the introduction from abroad of kerosene oil, the wax industry has greatly declined, and there are now no restrictions on the free sale of the tree for tapping, and, consequently, all the fine old trees (which will sell at 5 to 6 yen each) are fast disappearing.

To show the relative value of the berries and the trees a few years ago, the following may be cited :- A wholesale lacquer merchant 5 or 6 years ago went, as usual, to purchase trees in the district of Aidzu, and among others bought one tree for a yen (then equal to 4s.), the owner reserving the berries that might be got as his own property. He does not consider the bargain was a cheap one, but the owner realized a sum of 80 sen (equal to 3s. 2d.) from that year's yield of the berries alone, before cutting down the tree.

It should be mentioned that the above description of the method pursued in tapping the lacquer - tree is that which is recognised as the proper one, but the rule is not rigidly observed, the style and size of the tree, and the caprice of the workman, combining to cause variations in the number of incisions given in each series.

The woods chosen for lacquering on are naturally selected according to the use to which the lacquered article is to be put. For shelves, cabinets, boxes of all kinds, the following are principally used, and are set down in the order of their excellence: - Hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa): by far the best wood for making boxes, as it does not warp. Kin (Pau - lownia imperialist): light wood .used for clothes - boxes, which are only lacquered on the outside. It is also used for making tea - caddies, as the wood has no smell. Hono - ki {Magnolia hypoleuca): sword sheaths have hitherto been made of this wood. Sawara (Chamaecyparis pisifera): a wood of a coarser grain than Hinoki (C. obtusa). Hime - ko - matsu: used for carved figures of men, animals, etc. It is not liable to split and crack. Tsuga {Abies tsuga), Hiba (Thujopsis dolabrata: for making cheap articles. Akamatsu (Pinus densiflora), sugi(Cryp - tomeria japonica): only used in making the cheapest and most inferior goods. The following woods are mostly used in the manufacture of such articles as are turned in a lathe, as bowls, rice - cups, round trays, etc.: - keyaki {Planera j i - ponica), the best being obtained from the province of Hiuga. Shoji, the scientific name of which is unknown.

Sakura (Prunus pseudocerasus). Katsura (Cer - cidophyllum japonicum). Tcho (Gingko biloba). I - go: grown in large quantities in the neighbourhood of Hakone. It is principally used in the manufacture of chea'p articles. Buna: principally used in the district of Aidzu for the same kind of utensils as keyaki and sakura, but being a brittle wood, it cannot be turned in a lathe to make such fine articles; those made of this wood are coarse and heavier.. For raised gold lacquering over unvarnished surface, the following hard ornamental woods are often used: - Shitan, Tagayasan, Karin (quince), Kuwa (mulberry), Keyaki {Planera japonica), ornamental grain.