The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-03-31
get space and light without injury to the

of the cultivated plots in Japan. Every
inch of ground must be put to the most
profitable use, and a seed borne by the
current or dropped by bird stands lit.
tie show of growing to maturity. So
thoroughly have the japanese got the
mastery of these pests that the soil is en-
tirely free from every trace of them.
The climate and the warm, humid atmoa
phere are particularly favorable to the
growth of rusts and parasitic forms, but
they have almost entirely disappeared
from the fields OF japan. A few narrow
paths are made in the fields when
absolutely necessary, but they have no
roads, and consequently no room for
wheeled vehicles or machines.
Almost all the work OF cultivation is
done by hand, and the tools are models
of simplicity. The tool used for cutting
barley or wheat consists Of sharp blade
placed at right angles to the shaft, which
is about two feet long. The corn is cut
very carefully, SO that the adjoining
plants are not injured. ThreshiDg, too,
is tedious process. There is no room
in the fields for driving sheaves, for the
ground must be used Immediately after
harvest for the other crops. The corn
sheaves are tied up in punches and Sc
curely fastened to houses, fences and trees.
The ears are always placed downward, 30
that the rain may run off. During the
harvest season the caves and verandas of
every village house are stacked about
with neat bundles of grain that will be
beaten out as soon as dry. The ',rs are
knocked against pole, placed a few feet
above the ground, and the grain falls
upon the mats placed below to receive it.
The cereals are put through a sort of
primitive winnower, or thrown up for the
wind to carry away the huaks. Buuches
of corn or rice straw arc drawn through
hackles aud gathered upon mats. The
rice straw is used in the manufacture Of
q tough paper that has great sale in ia.
pan.
In July the fields are mado ready for
the rice, after being properly banked up
and irrigated. Rice is a staple, but is
regarded as luxury among the farmers,
being used only on holidays or in cases Of
illness. If q patient is 10 q critical con-
ton he is permitted to have rice. "What,
so i'll that he must have rice? ?" is asked
in sympathy, and the patients case is in
deed alarming when this grain is resorted
to as q diet.
Before the fields are hood the surface
is covered with vegetables or straw, such
as bean, haulm or bamboo grass, which
decay in time and make excellent ferLili-
zers. This coating is turned under the
mud by means os hoes little larger than
ordinary spades. Sometimes a subsoil
plough is used to accomplish the same
result. The coating of vegetation keeps
the muddy earth open aud 10 a porous
condition the first season, and furnishes
fertilization for the second. After the
surface is carefully smoothed it is cover
ed for depth Of six inches with water.
This process Of irrigation is very particu-
lar, although simple enough. Water is
conducted into the field of tho highest
elevation in the neighborhood, which it
overAows, aud then is carried to the next
field, few inches lowe aid on through
the whole series of fields to the lowest.
Water at the uniform depth Of six inches
is allowed 10 ~.nrd in each. If by chance
any of the frils cannot be watered in
this way another method is used. Water
is thrown up 10 the required level by
means of tread wheels, placed in the
channels for the purpose. The weight OF
the meu who tread The wheels is sufficient
to throw the water up to n considerable
height.
The rice plants are pulled out of their
seed beds and several stems are punched
together ard pressed into the mud. The
plants are irregulsrly placed to allow as
abundant growth as possible. Tha men
and women who plart this aquatic grain
stand in the mud aud water talf way up
to their knees all day luug, while the
b!istcripg rays Of the sun pour down up
on their bare heads. After few weeks
the plants are resdy to be puddled. The
mud must be pressed around each bunch
of plants, and weeks are generally spent
by the growers in the slushy fields again.
The water is gradually stopped, and by
the time the rice corn is ready to be cut
the fields are fairly dry. Each bunch is
cut with hand sickle after the manner
of barley or wheat, snd the rice corns are
knocked eff by hand. The grain is bum
died and carried from the field by the
men and womcu, OF strapped on the back
and sides Of pony. Carts and other
conveyauces are not used for the reasons
already given. The rice produced
amounts to about ITO 100000 bushels per
year, or about bushels PER capita 1t is
second in quality only to that grown in
Java or the Carolipas. and next to silk is
the principal export of Japan.
Sericullu.e is, Of course, an important
industry, aud affords employment for wo.
men ard children. The Japanese cocoon
is exceled in quality only by the French.
Ia July the cocoons may be seen hanging
about the h0uses To dry, alleF they have
been remayel jrcm the branches Of the
mulberry. Beans Of many varieties are
raised, for they grew easily, and form a
prircips! article of food, whether green,
half ripe, matused or dry. Bean meal,
bean curd and beau soup ere reiished by
the japanese. The principal article of
;c it,a ,,cot IL,