Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1883-03-08
FarmIno In .1Apah.

industry, and peculiar. Field farming
has always bech unknown; the tillage
Is really gardening, Of the most
thorough character, on garden farms
. averaging half an acre In size, one half
the entire Population being farmers,
MUcl OF the land bears winter as well
rs summer croDS, the thorougI ness OF
spade or mattock cut walton and the
careful fertilizing yielding larger re-
turns and preserving the yig0t Of The
Suil better THAN the more superficial
Western methods; irriga ion is uni
vers'.ny fiac,iced alsc, although the
annual rainfall is greater than on the
regions of largest precipi' alton in this
country The fee or The land, once in
the fCudal lord, is now held by tho
farmer. The Japanese arch pea o ex-
tends over h'tc II degrees cf Ii ituylt;
aid the cultivated acres RANGE from
the sea level to 10000 feet altitude.
OF the t0,0O0,000 acre Of til,ab,e land,
less thm Onefourth is as yet under
Cultivation, owing to the lack o. roads,
most of the carrying beng still per
formed by "packng' on the backs of
mules anu men. Eut the cultivated
area is extending an | wi ! extend fur
ther with the increase of ro; ds and eX-
ternal commerce. Grazing is still to
come. Animal food La been prohibited
by poverty and religious ttncts; horses
and cattle have been very
few, vegetables and fish having l Zen
the SOLE food; woolen cl thing was
formerly unknown. Hence the farm
yard, rs fertilizer, has been wholly
wanting, night soil having been the
principal reliance; the introduction of
other fertilizers and Of farm stock will,
OF course, work revolution. The great
staple of the country is rice, employ
ing more than half the titled area in
Summer; the alluvial and loWland
spots average forty lu hels per acre,
and sometimes go up rs high us sixty
and seventy. Wheat, of the variety
known here as winter, is grown every
where, yielding twenty bushels per
acre;it is grown in burrows, cultivated
by the mattock, cut by hand knife,
threshed by the fail, winnowed by
hand and "packet" in sacks; ground
in the most ancient of hand-millS, it i5
eaten in the form of unfermentcd
cakes. An unsuccessful attempt
was once made to export it. Barley
IS more important than wheat, and is
grown and used in much the same
way. Sugar is produced from Chinese
sorghum; the crop is about 65OOO0OO
pounds, about half of the entire con-
sumption. Tobacco is also an import
ant product, and $4,000 worth was
exported in 1880 Beans, peas and
other leguminous plants, more than
forty varieties in all, are especially i'm
portant class Of food in Japan. Chest
nuts are also largely eaten. The
Irish potato is grown only near the
open ports for foreign consumption,
but there are five varieties Of the
sweet potato, and they are very cheap.
The onion, parsnip, carrot and turnip
are staple foods; lily bulbs are grown
in several varieties and eaten. and a
miscellaneous variety Of other vegeta-
blcS 10 SlONA O1 ltLlu WHICH 'hSO
yields a rice crop in summer and a
cereal crop in winter, the common
practice being to sow other things
between" as pumpkins are sown
with us. The Importance of tea as a
japanese crop is well known. Flax is
not grown in the country. Hemp Of
uncommonly good quality is produced,
but its importance is iesSened by the
imperfection of the methods Of clean
ing it from resinous matter. The null
berry is extending its area. There is,
of course, room for foreign tools and
methods, but the thoroughness of the
existing land tillage is proved by the
results. With the mattock Cor broad
edged pick alone the soil is pulver-
lied until not lump is left, and with
the little old Chinese plOw the soil is
gone over four to eight times. The
farmer is seen plowing with his COW
for the eighth time in the year; he
works composts in, and gives his grow
ing crops three to ten liquid applica-
tions at their roots. One acre is said
to have yielded seventy bushels of rice,
with three and One-half tons Of straw,
and its owner was then preparing it
for a winter crop of not less size.