The Irish standard., 1886-11-06
THE IRISH STANDARD SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1896:
PICTURES OF JAPAN.

PICTURES OF JAPAN.
"A Hi1ly Country which Has Developed :
Peculiar Type Of Agriculture.
Japan throughout is very hilly, Fuji-
Yama Q3,5oo feet) being the highest
mountain. This mountain is of great
moment to the Japanese, and reap
pears continually ir their art, though
great liberty is taken with it's surround
ings: Sometimes it appears as if rising
out of the sea; again it is put in asmall
lake, and again it's true fringe of lesser
hills is seen about it. It is to che
Japanese a sacred object, and when
seen seventy miles away as the sun is
setting behind it, so beautiful is the
picture that we hardly wonder at the
worship given it. This hilly character
stamps at once the type of agriculture.
Japan has no huge farms, no large
fields. All cultivation is in small
patches. Not single plot did we see
containing more than an eighth of an
acre, and most were too small for a
lawn-tennis court. This again prevents
the use Of oxen or horses for farming,
and so brings into prominence the
great popularity of Japan, that near
ly all labor is done by men,
and even where oxen or horses
are employed as beasts of bur-
den, loads are not drawn in carts
or wagons, but carried upon the backs.
The national vehicle is the 'jini rik-
shaw" drawn by one or two men--a
little buggy on two wheels, whose very
name signifies ''man-power carriage"
The streets of the town are watered
from carts drawn by men, and the
sidewalks from buckets with perforated
bottoms carried on coolies shoulders.
All produce is brought to market
loaded on the backs Of either men or
cattle. Most Of the roads are only
from four to eight feet wide, and,
Aanked by bitches, do not admit wide
wagons drawn by horses.
Still nowhere in the West is farming
Cor gardening) more carefully aud
thoroughly done. The utmost capacity
of the ground is reached, while as much
is returned in the shape Of fertilizers
as is taken away, SO that the soil is
ever rich. Three or four crops are
gathered from one piece Of ground il
ono year. Every thing is planted in
rows, and while one crop is maturing,
q second is started between the rows of
the first, so that between che rows Of a.
wheat-feld there may ba crop of 90
matoes Or tnrnips or green's coming
on. The sides of very steep
mountains are utilized by terraces,
and the enorn,o ,ous amount of work ex-
pended in this way proves how long
Japan has been under cultivation.
Irrigation is practiced with most
rigid economy. Each terrace is en-
closed with a. small earth bank, four to
six inches high, so that all rain caught
is prevented from draining off until the
depth of the bank isreached. All over
this amount runs off upon the next ter.
race below, and as terrace is below ter
race, each one waters the one below,
and thus given amount of water will
irugate large surface.
a pleasing feature in japan is the
absence Of oeggars. Only three OF four
times have we been asked for money,
and then by women with babies on
Sheir backs Blind men are very nu.
merous, most of them self-1uutil ated,
having gwen their sight as an offer
ing to some of their deities. They earn
their living by O. sort OF massage. They
go through the streets toward the close
OF the day and through the evening
blowing q shrill whistle. Those who
desire the services Of these men call
them in, divest themselves OF clothing,
and. subrait to 81 process Of vigorous
humping, rubbing and kneading. JIM
rikshaw men, especially, employ them
after hard days work, believing that
this treatment is a sure preventive of
soreness. Foreigners sometimes call
them in, and speak highly of the re.
sults.-Cor. N. Y. Post.