Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1888-11-17

THE FARMS OF JAPAN.
SOME PEcUIIAR1TrEs OF oR1EN T,
AL CULTIVATION
Raising Rice, Barley, Rape seed
BuckH heat. Pea. and Flowers =
SNstenati.. Need Culturc

SySteuiatIt " eed Culture
In q farming country like ,laran.
where in the best districts The Ioad> are
as smooth a. 4 floor, 'lnrikl~ha tr4<c A.
ford> the ,oiie>t Of opportunities :or
observation. The snr klsha hintSe
invention. 5 an osergrown doll ehai>c
Of q size to carry one or two mea anl
drawn by team Of one two or Three
.faps. They whisk Won over the road a,
a steady pace Of siA miles an hour oA the
eve sometimes exceed ny that rate
and will average nearly i've miles on
mixed grades have one record Of
nine aud three f.h> mie> made n one
! hour and twenty three minutes by
single man on levc'.
Ny first drive was into a rice REG on
The feds were cat up into al sizrs, an.I
/ arranged upon ever varying levels. Some
were but few feet square, while a quar-
| Ter of an acre Vas a large tc.d The
! best land eds Fifty bushels an acre.
! more or less. and the poorest about
! thirty 1t is rare TO find two.ad a ent
/ fields on the same level. >lopin. land
! Is of course more convcn ent for lrri-a-
1 ton, but on this fat area through " hich
J VIC We're travelling the Ilttle rice fed,
were laborionsly divided up at different
heights, 50 that the water might he
made to flow easily from one to tho
other. The water is raised to the higher
patches mostly by tleadmiIl pumps. We
were on the ground in season 10 witness
the earlier STAGES Of rice cult walton. In
some fields the bare stubs Of the a>t crop
were dismally peerng out Of the mud
In Others laborers were calins up the
stubs with heavy prong d forks, stand
ing nearly to the hips in water and
slime. Bullocks drawing long toothed
harrOws were engaged IN the same oper-
alton. Wooden plough, were also at
work, mere stirring-np implements of
wood with one handle. They had 4
rounded nose fortified with an iron
chisel, point hcvclcd downward Then
there was a rude p ough with broad iron
share for turning a shallow furrow, and
heavy oblong hoes for working the soil
over and over Grading scoops com
pletcd the grand utensils. but sor shap
ing The cau>eways, or narrow dykes he
tween the fields, the coolies used the
usual hand weapons. The crop IS sown
in May and reaped in October or Novcm-
Der, being grubbcd or puddled three
times during the season. This means
that the whole populat or wade into the
slime, pul. out the weeds. and stir up
the mud about the roots Of the plants
The first thing that struck us in the
harley and wheat region was the peculiar
fuyrows. They were very shallow at
first, varying somewhat in depth, and
+ considerably in width and architecture,
so to speak. They were in the rough at
the outset. so far as anything in Japan
is entitled to that character. though
they would be smooth and elegant iur-
rows anywhere else Then they began
to be slored up slanting, smoothcd or
as evenly rs the SIDES Of a house
, others were squared with mathematical
precision On the ridges the barley IS
sown in thlcksct rows, apparently by
hand On the narrower ridges but a
: single row appeared; on the broader
ones were two rows, and more raV V
three Outside these grain lows the
dyes were utilized for other crops.
mostly rows Of buckwheat, but we saw
also sweet potatoes, ,urnlps, beans, AMI
the like In "ne place we observed a
man watering this extra cron which ap
peared odd, as the ground seemed moist
I enough To accomplish this primitl> {
G irrigation he carried two buckets slHng
over his shoulders on pole, and used a
G wooden hand dippcv with a Sit in the
side at the bottom. which let out thln
disk Of water Throughout the iicd-
a Of this vast region were numerous wells.
| with the odiaehloned vel sweep. Not
. only the ridges but the fnrrows them
t selves are sometimes utili Cd for troi s.
Y The only thing We saw growing there
G however. wa, wha, our courier informoa
Us was bird seed
/ Aside from the bare was wheat also
used mostly for the Manufacture Of vcr
. mlcelli for we did not d scovcr any US
Of bread by the .Iaps except IN rar'
. cAses whore the custom had been Dor
rowed from Europeans There wcre IN
I mease fields also of what our guld'
/, calle oil plant, which We took q b
:. rape seed This crop was harvested a
I also Was the barley i'll warm local tics, i
y being ,he latter part If May her
: were ALSO large pat he~ of beans IN,
q peas, and one of lie thin grass Ike rec
whose pith furnishes japanese lamp
with wickinc. We were, howe e., NOR
occupied with the style 4ni chaanctcr O
e the farming than With crop statlstlc-
And this style was really gardening %
0 grand scale The nice little inTrows. :
e vii ch have referred, a lad the al
4 pearanee ~ be NJ .a-e!ulg pattcd b
5 hand. 50 srnoo,h AMI even were the
4 surfaces.
e Then, in addition 70 The nire re-
Iarity of tile sown rops 'heec
another rees4l ar "a deHln- feature. I
fence Or he &, appeared II 'ha led
for coed an. IS TOO t!t!a fGe, Sel@