March i, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



667 



RIOE CULTIVATIOX IX JAPAN. 



Aatumn cultivation is interesting, as now the rice fields 

 , are drained and the rice cleared, and where the ground 

 is sufficiently dry it is turned over with a long-handled 

 spade. The handle is bent, so that when the spade is 

 thrust into the ground — not by the foot, but by a thrust 

 from tlie shoulder—the bent handle rests on the ground 

 as a fulcrum, and the long handle is presse.l downwards 

 and the clog lifted and turned over. The ground is then 

 finely raked down or harrowed. Sometimes a wooden plough 

 drawn by one bull or one horse is used in Ueu of the 

 spade. In this prepared ground barley, pulse, buckwheat, 

 rape seed. &c., are grown in drills and manured by liquid 

 manure carried by the farm labourer in two wooden buck- 

 ets slung on a flattened stick placed upon his shoulder. 

 The liquid msinure is collected twice a week from the 

 resideiices and public conveniences by the farmers, who 

 make arrangements with the residents, &c., and carry it 

 away in deep wooden buckets with covers slung across 

 pack horses or coolies' shoulders as before mentioned. This 

 is emptied into wooden tanks upon the farms. The tanks 

 are roofed with thatch to prevent dilution by rain, and 

 the sides and ends of the shed are open to allow of the 

 full play of the atmo.sphere upon the surface of the tank, 

 which has no cover. In a few daj'S the soil ferments and 

 the solid matter rises to the surface and forms a crust ; 

 the gas from fermentiun passes away into the atmosphere, 

 and the soil is used in about a week after depositing in 

 the tank, before it becomes putrid. When poured in an 

 undiluted state upon growing crops it does not scald or 

 burn them as th'> nightsoil of this country does; this may 

 be aujouuted for probably by its being kept in open tank-, 

 and thus nei„-r allon-ing the sulphuretted hydrogen to 

 poison the soil. The soil is never poured directly upon 

 the vegetation, but along the drills beside tlie growing 

 crops, but is often si)illed upon the crops, and does not 

 injure them. A Seconal crop is not invariably obtained 

 from the ground upon which the rice has been grown. 

 The gi-ound sometimes lies dormant for six months, and 

 is manured for the rice probably between the drills, which 

 are covered by two inches of water. On the plateau and 

 ground elevated above the rice fields irrigation is not ajj- 

 plied, and here dry cultivation alone prevails, and no rice 

 is grown, as rice must be constantly covered by water. 

 On this table land the crops consist of carrots and radishes 

 (both grown a length of 2 feet), peas, beans, buckwheat, 

 sweet potatoes (Dtoscorea batatas), cucumbers, melons, the 

 purple egg plant (Solanum esculentum), millet, &c. The 

 cucumber plants are trained six feet high up brushwood, 

 like peas, the cucumbers hanging down. 



The staple production of Japan is rice, and rice can 

 only be grown on land inundated by water. Small areas, 

 from .50 to 100 feet square, are well worked iuto mud 

 by rakes with teeth about 1-5 inches long being struck into 

 the soft ground and pulled towards the labourer, thus 

 overturning the sod. Water is then let in, and all is 

 worked into mud. Upon the surface the rice seed is sown 

 thickly, and about an inch of water is kept over the 

 seed. The sowing takes place about the middle of May, 

 and by the middle of .June the rice is sufficiently strong 

 for planting out. In the beginning of .Tune the early 

 crops of barley, pulse, &c., are ripe and reaped ; these 

 crops are grown on the dry ground, the rice ground hav- 

 ing been drained for them. This dry ground, now free 

 from crop, is entered upon by farm labourers who, with 

 long drag rakes as before described, strike the long curved 

 prongs into the soil and drag the sod over, and by this 

 method completely turn over the whole of the ground; 

 water is now let iu, and a horse with a rake or harrow, 

 with long handle resembling the plough handles, is worked 

 thi'ough the plot, about an acre, surrounded by banks about 

 1.5 inches high by 9 inches wide on the toji; these little 

 banks prevent the water escaping from the plot. When 

 the plot is worked 1-5 or 18 inches deep into mud, and 

 about the middle of June, the seed pl.onts are lifted by 

 women and men frorn the seedbeds before mentioned, 

 and dibbled out in rows, apparently 12 inches between, 

 and 6 inches between each i)!ant. Water is now run on to 

 the plot, and is kept upon it about 2 inches deep, until 

 the ric; is matured in November. These plots do not 

 appear to be manured for the rice, the manure which was 



given for the previous dry crop being apparently sufficient 

 for the two crops, which are taken off within the twelve 

 months. Irrigation is adopted for si.x months only, from 

 June to November ; the water is then run off. Irrigation 

 is the grand resource of Japan, and probably for thou- 

 sands of years .Japan has constantly and annually pro- 

 duced rice upon the same land at the average of fortv 

 bushels to the acre. The rivers, as in most other count- 

 ries, have their sources in mountain ranges, varying from 

 4,000 to 10,000 feet high, which are snow clad during 

 some of the winter months, but snow only to small ex- 

 tent lies on these mountains, and the rivers are not fed 

 through summer by the melting of the snow as in Italy 

 and other largely irrigated countries. The principal rain- 

 fall is during the summer months. It is the summer rain- 

 fall which feeds the rice fields. The whole of the country 

 from the mountains downwards to the sea, where the 

 ground is not too precipitous — and a very large extent of 

 the country near the mountains is too steep — is laid out 

 in level plots, contoured so that one j)lot is slightly lower 

 than the one above. Into the uppermost the water is led 

 from a race taken from the river. Those races are small, 

 about 4 feet wide, and numerous, tapping the river at 

 various points, and from these races arterial conduits are 

 carried to the various contours. Each inlet to the plot is 

 through the small bank siu-rounding it, and the water is 

 admitted by passing over a small paling sluice which is 

 removed when the i>lot is to be drained. The races are 

 all provided with wooden sluices which are lifted by a 

 rope passing over a barrel worked by handspikes. The 

 whole irrigation is most efficient, and carried out at the 

 least possible cost. The races being numerous, and of such 

 comparatively small dimensions, effectually prevent floods 

 or destruction of works. The rivers are all banked on 

 each side, and many of the beds are higher than the land 

 on either side, which is irrigated. Although the heat of 

 summer at Yokohama an I the more southern port. Kobe 

 seldom exceeds 93 in the shade and 122 in the sun, yet 

 the heat is oppressive, the atmosphere beiug so humid. — 

 F. C. Chkisty. — Melbourne yli/e. 



OLIVE OULTUKK IN AUSTRALIA. 



At the last meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, 

 Adelaide, a discussion took ]>lace on a recent paper read 

 by F. 0. Barnard on the olive. Mr. J. Curnow said the 

 paper put a very gloomy aspect on the industry of olive 

 culture. The figures given by Mr. Barnard went to show 

 that each tree belonging to Mr. llardy and Mr. Ev^rai-d 

 was worth after being planted a number of years aboiit Is. 

 6d. per year, and if people were only to receive that 

 amount after years of trouble it would never pay to grow 

 the olive. 



Jlr. E. Smith said he had looked at the analysis made 

 by Mr. Goyder, and he saw that he said he was able to 

 produce a gallon and a half of oil per cwt. from olives 

 costing ^s. per cwt. His experience had been that he could 

 produce three gallons from a r.vt. of benies, but of coiu'se 

 there were three or four crashiij_;s. With reference to 

 the olives at Mr. Everard's prope; ty, they had been planted 

 years before they were grafted. The trees were also' 

 along.side a lot of pines, and they could not be expected 

 to do well there. 



Mr. S. Davenport said he would give the committe a 

 return he had made of the olive oil produced at his place 

 since 1S75, as follows : — 



Weight Olives f.., „„„ „ . Total Per cent 



Year. Crushed. oil per cwt. qj,_ for weight. 



cwt. qr. lb. gls. qts. pts. gals. 



1875... 1,39 3 19 11 1.28 203 11.79 



1S7(;... 146 3 12 1.2 242 13.40 



1877... 336 1 5 13 0.96 435 14..S3 



1878... 68 1 24 2 1-6 150 17.80 



1879... 236 18 12 0.4 521 X2.-59 



1880... 290 1 22 13 0.88 512 14.32 



1881... 239 14 12 1.04 389 13.21 



He would like to draw attention in this return to Jhe 3'ear 

 1878, when there was a very hot season, ami the yield was 

 consequently rather small, but strange to s<iy the average 

 quantity of oil per cwt. was much larger than any previous 

 year. It should be remembered th.at the olive was a plant 

 which became more valuable each year, as the yield became ' 



