Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-06-16
Farming in Japan.

Labor in Japan is exceedingly cheap.
The ordinary farm hand averages from
forty dollars to fifty dallars per
year, without board and lodging.
As the land is in general very
infinitely divided, the farmers cultivate
their own lands with their W hands.
There are about $4,000, 900 acres Of land
under cultivation at the present time,
and the people engaged in farming are
about Is, 800, 600, SO that the average
extent of land per farmer is a little less
! than one acre. The wives of farmers
not only perform their household du-
ties, but also constitute q part of the
regular farm force, taking the easier
kinds of work, such as picking up po-
tatoes, transplanting rice, etc. The
Japanese farmers subsist upon a simple
diet, but they enjoy robust health, and
are very hospitable. In the northern
provinces of Japan the farmers emil
CRATE to the Island of Hokkaido after
harvest is over, and engage in the
salmon and herring fisheries, where
| their labor commands about fifty dol
lars for five months service, with board.
This is considered as the highest wages
in Japan.
The manure, the most important item
in farming, is carefully economical by
the japanese farmer. He never wastes
what will contribute to the fertility OF
the soil. Fish guano, lime,% barn-yard
manure and night-soil are the principal
manures used. He observes strict
economy in the preservation and appli-
cation af these manures. Here it may
be said that what keeps up the Japanese
farm in it's virginia. fertility is princi-
pally the virtue of nights soil. The
chemical analysis of fish guano showed
that it contains nine parts of nitrogen
and three parts of phosphoric oxide,
This fish guano is made on the northern
coasts and used in the southern prov
inces. Paying great attention to the
economical application of manure, the
Japanese farmer next considers the
thorough tillage of the land. The soil
is finely %pulverized by a rude imple-,
ment, somewhat similar in construction
to a common hoe, and the weeds are
carefully pulled up or plowed under.
The japanese farmer never allows
weeds to grow and draw elements of
fertility from the soil. Every farm,
every field, looks like q garden. From
this point of view, japanese farming
may APPLY be called gardening rather
than farming. 1t is a joyous time for
every farmer when the wedding OF the
rice field begins. Men, women and
children all go out into the field and
pull up every weed they can find, and
leave the field in the incest possible
condition. They do not mind how deep
ly they must get in the mellow mud of
the rice field, but proceed with their
work singing merrily and heartily, and
when their labor is over they have a big
feast in a family circle, and look for a
future blessing from Heaven. Rice may
be understood as the staple crop in
Japan, and the japanese farmer de-
ponds entirely upon this one crop; but
rice needs water for its growth, hence
the water question in Japan becomes a
most important one. At present every
water system is carefully utilized for
the irrigation of rice fields, and the
system Of irrigation is such that when
the rice ripens its seed, and is ready
for its harvest, the water is drained of
and the field is made accessible for men
to work.-Ame11can AgrScuNurist.