PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE OF JAPAN. 105 



proper sj^stem has been adopted for the construction of roads 

 in all parts of the empire. At the present time, however, 

 nearly all the vehicles for pleasure or business travel are 

 literal " pull-man cars," being drawn by one, two, or three 

 men. They are built in the form of a light, two-wheeled 

 chaise on el'iptic steel springs, and cost about fifteen dollars 

 %piece. There are tens of thousands of them licensed as 

 cabs and hacks in all the larger towns and cities ; and most 

 of the native as well as foreign gentlemen who can afford to 

 keep a team use men instead of horses. There are many 

 advantages appertaining to this mode of travel, as the human 

 horse drives himself and finds the road, does errands and 

 imparts information, and, at the end of the journey, feeds and 

 takes care of himself and the vehicle. Two men will draw a 

 traveller, with fifty pounds of baggage, fifty miles in ten 

 hours, and on some routes will gladly do it for one cent per 

 mile, and find themselves. Where the roads are bad, trav- 

 ellers must ride on horseback, or they can be carried in a 

 handsome box suspended on a pole, borne on the shoulders of 

 two or more men. The emperor was formerly carried in a 

 splendid structure like a small house, on the shoulders of fifty 

 bearers ; but now he rides in a superb English coach drawn 

 by four American horses. 



In regard to other domestic animals there is little of im- 

 portance to be related. Ducks and fowls are numerous and 

 in considerable variety. The white Pekin ducks are very 

 large and prolific ; and the mandarin is extremely beautiful 

 both in form and color, resembling somewhat our wood-duck. 

 Of fowls, there are very small bantams, elegant games, and 

 heavy breeds of various colors. The plumage as a rule is 

 much finer than that of our fowls, the hackles and tail-feath- 

 ers being of extraordinary length and brilliancy. 



In practical agriculture the Japanese are remarkably skil- 

 ful, and have numerous methods and customs which might 

 well be imitated by us. There cannot be found in any other 

 country extensive fields which produce more human food to 

 the acre, or which are more free from weeds, or which main- 

 tain their fertility from generation to generation more per- 

 fectly, or which more completely charm the eye of an intelli- 

 gent traveller. The most important characteristics which 

 distinguish Japanese farming are the following; viz., first, 



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