, 1904-11-16
,JaDanese Farmers.


The yankees of the orient seem to
have made progress quite as rapidly In
an Industrial as in a military way. In
agriculture there have been severe
handicaps to overcome. for the reason
that less than one-siXth of the land Is
arabic. This leaves each farmer only
about two acres. Consul General Bel
lows of Yokohama makes a very inter
esting report on the subject.
An American farmer will naturally
wonder how the japanese farmer can
support his family from the produce of
SO small a farm and how he employs
his time on it. The Japanese standard
of living is far below the American,
and the income of the Japanese farmer
is usually increased by his engaging in
some subsidiary industry, such as rear
ing silkworms, Keeling silk or spinning
and by working for wages in the inter
walls of farm work. In his work on the
farm he seldom uses a horse or other
draft animal, and his tools are of a
very primitive character. He fertilizes
and cultivates very thoroughly and is
thus enabled to secure a more abundant
harvest, besides often raising two or
more crops a year on the same field.
In the warmer ATTITUDES of Japan bar
ley, indigo, beans and rape are grown
successfully on n plat Of ground
within the space of a year.
For the purpose of promoting agri-
cultural interests the government
maintains a state experimental farm
and nine branch farms. The work at
these farms is largely theoretical and
is divided into eight departments-viz,
seed, saplings, agricultural chemistry,
entomology, vegetable physiology, to-
bacco, horticulture and general affairs.
The results of the Investigations are
submitted to thirty-eight experimental
farms, created and carried on by the
provinces with the help of a subsidy
from the general government, and
theories are here subjected to the test
of practical application before general
publication.
The principal agricultural products,
named in the order of their acreage
are rice, rye, barley, wheat, beans,
mulberries, sweet potatoes, millet,
buckwheat, rape, red beans, Italian
millet, tea, indigo leaves, potatoes, sor-
ghum, tobacco leaves, cotton and hemp.
The area devoted to rice cultivation
constitutes a little more than two
fffths of the total area of arabic land.
The greater part of the rice fields are
in low lying land, which can be easily
flooded. bat some upland rice is raised.
Mulberry trees and tea plants are
usually planted on land not suitable
for more important crops, such as the
slopes of hills, sandy dunes and sim.
liar places. In the warmer parts of the
empire barley and rape are often raised
as a second crop after rice has beer
harvested, but farther north the ex
cess of moisture required for rice
leaves the land too cold for another
crop the same year.
Stock raising is still in its infancy in
Japan and is not likely to become ar
important industry owing to the higl
price of land and the coarseness of the
native grasses, most of which are moi
fit for food for cattle or horses.
The most noteworthy and encourag
ing fact to be noted is that the Japa
nese government is making persistent
and intelligent efforts to advance farm
ing in every possible way. Irrigation
plants have been established, fruit
growing encouraged and subsidies of
fered. This plan, if followed Ions
enough, cannot but have important re
suits, especially if the fertile valleys
of Korea are thrown open to japanese
cultivation.