Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-28

From this cultivated area all the food and
textile plants are grown To feed and clothe
5, ,GeO,0O0 people. The land outside Of this
cultivation does not contribute by grazing TO
their support as with U.S. as the japanese
wear no woOlen clothing and eat neither beef,
pork, mutton, milk, butter nor cheese. The
untitled area yields them only fuel. Their
l2,OOOO acres do even more than TO clothe
and feed their ~, ,00o, ,0o0 people. They yield
1000 900 pounds of tea, 5000 balas ot silk.
and large quantities Of rice, tobacco and
hemp for expectation.
rILLERs OF TIE sOII.
In population of p. 90, 900 there are 30,
10000 who belong 10 the agricultural class
There are 4.JO0,O0 landholdefs. The land
holders average two and two-thirds acres
There are few men who own aud till ten
acres and there are many who have one acre
and less Ii is not to be understood that all
the labor Of 20,O0,OOO OF people is expended
upon 100000 Of acres Of land. Every
farmers family has its wheel, reel warping
bars and loom, as the early settlers Of this
continent had, and their cotton, linen and silk
cloth is made for family use, and even for sale.
The climate is ~ mld that on the lower
levels the soil never freezes, and an much OF
the and both summer and winter crops are
raised the same year. In order TO maintain
the fertility of the soil, with this double de-
mand upon il, repeated fertilization is prac-
tised. The number Of domestic animals Is
comparatively small. There Is no other coun-
try in the world with such areas unorcupied
for tillage and 80 well adapted to grazing that
has 50 few domestic anInish The result Of
this condition is that the farmer has no barn
yard fertilizers Deprive the farmer in the
older settled states in this country Of these re-
sources and there would be no agriculture;
but the Japanese without them, and without
any knowledge Of agricultural botany or
chemistry have reached a crop rate unequaled
in Europe or America With no stock to
feed there are no USES for wheat, rye or bar
ley tran. and these are used To enrich the soil
They also use deComposed nonedible sea
weeds. The whole seacoast line Of those
islands must aggregate more than $, 900 miles
All along this line the tides deposit great win
nowS Of sesw-ed, which is collected during
low tide, piled up and allowed 70 decompose,
and Is then sold TO the farmers 10 is carried
up TO the foothills in boats. and thence by
long lines Of pack horses to the fields
LACK or MACHINERY.
Of labor saving machinery Japan has al |
most none. The plow, the symbol Of tillegs
in Europe and America, is justly held in low
esteem, and little used. The good farmer /,
there will have it only when labor Is scarcs |
and the seed time is passing ty. The imple |
ment used for stirring and comminuting the |
soil is a wide bladed mattock. Sometimes. in |
very heavy soils, pronged mattock is used, !
but generally it IS the bladed mattock that
does the work IL Is an awkward, heavy !
looking implement, but it Is better than it |!
looks. The blade is twelve inches In length |
and five inches wide. The handle is I've feet !
in length, TO which the blade il hung at an |
acute angle, 50 that when by q blow il is /
forced into the ground there is q leverage for I
lifting the earth. By this instrument the soil
is not only turned over, but 1t is thoroughly
pulveriZed. Often the ground is gone over
again and again till the soil b thoroughly
comminuted. Sometimes . plow b ssed by
those who have clay soils and large areas of
land II is not, as usually described BY globe
trotters, crude, imperfect implemsnt Il is
light, easily run and does good work 1t b
drawn by one animal, usually . COW, but
sometimes by horse. Ii the psw Is used
the ground is plowed and replowd.
AN INTELLIGENT EARnR
In company with Gen. Van Buren, the
the writer visited the agricultural fields at
KiotO, the old capital There sbe conquering
race had titled the soil for more than 1900
years. We saw a man plowiag near the road
and We stopped to talk viii him He in
formed us that he had harvested . crop Of
rice which, after being iulled, averaged
seventy bushels 10 the ace, and that the
winter crop on the sam land had been
,;rt, rtA ~
bushels to the AGRA In addition to
this, between the rows or drills of wheat,
early in February, he had sown a crop of
early vegetables. He vas then plowing the
land the fourth time, ssi informed US that he
usually plowed it eigb times. In reply to
the question why be Plowed it 30 often be
said: In order to nsks the soil yield such
good crops year aftes year we must use all
the fertilizers whichshs soil can transmit TO (
the roots OF the plass To do this We must
have the soil comphtely pulveriEed % that I
the roots can penetrate every portion Of it
Another reason is mat we put a large guam
tity Of compost manure on the land before
plowing. and it b desirable TO have IL COM
pletely mixed ath the SOIL To our ex- :
preston Of Surprise at the enormous yield,
he said that farther down the valley the soil
|
returns than b realized, and that some Of
the best land yelded fifty bushels Of wheat in -,
the winter ans seventy five bushels Of rice In
the summer, besides the crop Of vegetables
between the shest rows in the spring
THE srArLK CROP.
Rice is ths great crop Of the country Fully ,
one-haH ofall the land under tillags Is de-
voted TO tht food plant There are two gen
eral varishes Of rice grown-low land and
upland. Lowland rice is grown in the val {
leys and On the plains where the irrigation is
practicable, and where the plant can be ,
Hooded In order that this can be done, the q.
land is hubdivided into small plats, and leveed
or emlHnsed In valleys that have any slope, |
in orfr that the plat may be level the en-
banked subdivisions must be small, not larger
in msny instances than q good sized room; in I
otheE as large as an average sized house, 4
to aEow the plats TO contain more than q half
acrf. The embankments are made of mud,
ard are about two and ono half feet high |
Their construction and the leveling OF the |
pl,is, involves considerable labor. but the re- |
suits richly repay it. S
Every variety of vegetable is grown and :
these people have doInesticateh many kinds
" plants that are still known to US only as
weeds, There are al least 100 food plants,
lseful in domestic economy, which we could z
borrow from them to advantage These is :
anders have successfully done what we have /;
and failed TO do. They produce
III or nearly all the sugar they use In !,
Japan, since long before written records, the !
orghum cane has been grown, and granu- |
ated su ar hes been made from it. In 1851, t
IL ,oUD,OO pounds were produced. ANY | I
ilGged "o0lie with rusty pot can take the a
JGce of the sorghum cane aud make fine h
snnulated c. suSar.-Jap&n Cor. San Fran '
clsso Chronicle.