The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-12-02
BILkINS IN JAPAN.
WHERE COTTON WON'T GROW

The Silk Industry is Gress-Fruits
Do WelI-They Mako . Little
"spirits"-The japanese Garden-
Mining an Important Industry
Cotton Mills and the Great Ship
building Carried on-Strange But
Profitable Manufacturing.
Toxic, Japan, Nov. II. 1909.
Correspondence Of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
hev awlready spoken ov the rice
farmers in Japan. they bein' the big
gest part ov the agricultural industry
in the empire. The cultivation ov
tea Is very important. so much ov hit
bein' necessary fer home consump-
tion. Rice grows best on the rich
lowlands, while tea will grow on the
sides ov the hills an mountains. Be-
tween Yokohama and Nogoya you
can see probably the best tea-growin'
portion ov Japan. The tea plant
grows about az large az an ordinary
gooseberry or current bush and the
tea leaves air very thick on the bush.
The leaves vary in value, one grade
or quality selling fer az much az five
dollars per pound. But not much ov
that kind IL raised. Since Japan hez
become large purchaser ov Ameri-
can cotton the cultivation or cotton
hez bin tried. But Japan will never
get rich CROWN cotton. the yield be-
in entirely too small. The South.
U. S. A.. still hez and will awlways
hev a monopoly In cotton CROWN.
Some tobacco IL grown. Some to-
bacco IL grown. but Japan cannot
compete with the U. 8. in that either.
Raw silk Is probably the most avlu
able export product Japan hez. At
one time much ov the silk wuz neces-
sary for home use. But the extern
sive use ov American cotton in ia
pan hez enabled that country to sell
much ov the silk and substitute cot
ton cloth for home use, which IL a
good business proposition for the
Japanese; and II Americans or other
people prefer silk goods, nobody IL
hurt in the transaction, for a guide
grade ov silk will wear an look we'll
fer years. The amount ov silk sent
out o vJapan amounts to about thir-
ty-f1ve million dollars par year, three
ifths ov the quantity goin' to the
United States. In addition. the sale
of silk products. made In Japan
amounts to about fifteen million dol
lars, or a total ov fifty million dol
lars. Az the sale ov tea IL but five
million dollars and the sale ov rice
four million dollars annually, that IL,
to outsiders, the reader can readily
see that the silk industry IL the COM
mercial life ov Japan in hits dealings
with foreign countries.
Some ov the fruits grow to perfec-
tion in Japan. The apple tree wuz
carried here from America only thir-
ty odd years ago, but a great guam
tity ov the fruit is now grown In
Japan, some ov the apples goin' to
China and some to Siberia, for
surplus IL raised. The Southern
Japanese islands grow oranges, ba-
nanas, and pineapples, surplus ov
each bein' grown for trade. The
bantam, a species Of grape, Is awlso
raised. Pears do fairly we'll. Peach
trees do fairly we'll. also. but the
{1 of how
mentioned the wonderful persim-
mons that grow here In a former let
ter. The only intoxicant the Japan
ese hev, except wine, IL made from
rice. Hit IL called "shocken." This
contains about so per cent ov alco-
hol, and I am told that hit will
make a feller "rich" II he tanks up
on hit. Az am from q more or less
dry State an am an active member
ov a more or less dry party. the
grand old Dymakrat party, the party
that bets everything on Bryan an
prohibition, could not feel at lib
erty to sample the "shochu"; that IL.
if did sample hit, my party ties. an
other clothin' would not permit me
to confess that hit IL guide medisin.
But I may buy little bottle ov the
stuff an carry hit home with me and
git a special permit from the State
chairman ov my party to take hit, so
kin tell my friends what they git
mellow" on in Japan.
The Japanese garden Is a cute lit
xhnf~ stAa1Ac0 m
larger than an American garden, you
can we'll imagine how small the aver
age garden IL. Why we raise cab
hages in North Carolina which air 50
large that they would not have room
to grow in q Japanese garden. But
they grow vegetables just the same.
many varieties ov them.
In visiting Japan you can land at
Yokohama and depart at Kobe, these
seaports bein' three hundred miles
apart. Side trips can be taken to
! Toxic, Nikko, Miyano-Shita, Kyoto
and Nara. That does not include awl
ov the principal cities, but you see
some ov the most interestin' portions
ov the country.
Mining Is an industry ov consid.
cradle importance in Japan. Gold
silver and copper air found In payin
quantities. About six million dollars
worth ov copper air exported annu
ally. Good coal IL found In abund
ance. Coal. ov course. IL the princi
pal fuel used in Japan. But thel
(Coutinued on Page &.