Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1881-12-15
Agriculture il Iapan.

Agriculture IN Japan.
General Thomas B. Van Buren
consul general to Japan, furnishes the
department. Of state much useful intor-
nation in regard to the ways in which
agricultural operations arc carried on in
the great island empire. A large portion
of the land has been under cultivation
for at least two Thousand years, and has
produced two crops annually. The soil
was never very rich, but it is none the
worse for the great number Of crops
that have been taken from it. Run
down farms and exhausted soils are
unknown in any portion of Japan. Still
the country Is almost entirely lacking in
means Of soil improvement that are
brought into use elsewhere. There are
no labor-sa7ing implements like those
employed in this country and most
portions of Europe, and very few beasts
Of burden. Occasionally a small plow
is used, being drawn by COW. The
soil, for the most part, is worked with
the spade and mattock, without the use
Of any other tool Most Of the farms are
quite too small to admit Of being culti-
vated by machines drawn by teams
They would be called gardens elsewhere,
and on an average contain about half
an acre Of land. There is no occasion
for fences, as hardly any animals are
kept. The few hedges are composed Of
tea shrubs, whose leaves afford paying
crop. Much of the land is made to
produce two crops each year. Where a
1eading crop is cultivated in rows OF
drills it is usual to raise crop of
secondary importance between them.
As all the soil is occupied, there is no
room. for weeds to grow. As very few
animals are kept. there is. very little
dung. The principal fertilizers are
night-soil, fish, straw, ashes, and sea
weed. Commercial fertilizers are
unknown. Although the rainfall in
Japan is greater than in the most favored
portions Of the United. States, and is
better distributed, still there are every
where means for irrigating the land
when occasion requires. The production
Of crops is never left to depend on the
fall of rain. With the dense population
there is thought to be no economy in
employing animals to perform work,
and the religion of many Of the inhab-
itants forbids the use Of flesh as food.
There is now quite large foreign pop
ulation in the seaport towns and it is
profitable to raise cattle, sheep
and pigs to supply them with
meat. The principal articles
raised for expert are tea, tobacco,
silk and hemp. The clothing OF
the natives is chiefly made-of cotton
and silk. though wooden cloth is begin
ming to be worn, especially in the large
towns. AS no meat is consumed by
most of the inhabitants, substitute is
found in vegetable products that abound
in nitrogen. The wheat and barley are
so ground as to preserve all the gluuen
they contain. A great variety Of legu-
minous plants are cultivated, and en-
brace beans, peas and lentiles. In some
gardens as many as forty varieties Of
beans are raised. They possess differ
ent favors and afford variety. The
common potato can be raised to good
advantage, but it is seldom produced
except to supply foreign residents, as
the natives consume SO much rice that
they do not require other kinds of food
abounding in starch. They prefer the
yam or some variety Of sweet potato,
as they contain more gluten and sugar
and are much more productive. Chest
nuts growing on waste land are gath
cred, cooked and used for food. Tur-
nips, beets, carrots, parsnips, and a
variety Of other escuient roots, are very
extensively produced and used for food
in connection with grains.
Lily bulbs are cultivated and used for
food by all classes. They contain much
sugar and starch, and many Of them
have most delicious flavor. They
serve as condiments as well as articles
of true food. Lilies are made to be
useful as well as ornamental. Rice is
the principal article Of food, as more Of
it can be produced on an acre than of
any other kind Of grain, and it can be
raised on land that viii not produce
other crops on account of the moisture
it contains. Some of the rich bottom
lands produce sixty bushels Of hulled
rice to the acre. The total amount pro-
duced in 1880 was 205, 600, 900 bushels.
Several varieties Of rice are also culti-
waited at distance from the seashore.
It is believed that the upland rice Of
Japan would grow well in this country.
Herbaceous plants enter largely into
the list Of Japanese foods, and are,
therefore, important items in the agri-
cultural products Of the country. They
help to flavor articles Of food that have
little taste, and are valuable for their
nutritious qualities as well as for the
favor they impart. They are princi-
pally grown as additional crops on
ground occupied in part, by other pro-
ducts. The sugar Of Japan is made
from the plant known as Chinese sor.
ghum, and for five hundred years the
process Of granulating and refining
sorghum sugar has been known and