I873-J VISIT TO JAPAN. 335 



VISIT TO JAPAN-.-GAHDEN CULTUBE. 



TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'YOCKSHIEE GAZETTE.' 



ToKio, Nov. 14, 1872. 

 Sir,— According to promise, I will continue my description of Su-mae-Yah. 

 On entering the gateway of one of the gardens you generally come on a pretty 

 little winding path leading up to the gardener's house, which is usually situat- 

 ed near the centre of the garden. On both sides of the walk specimens of the 

 hardy ornamental trees of the country are planted, many of which are dwarfed 

 or clipped into round table forms. The Yew (Taxus cusjiidata) is one of the 

 principal ; but there are different species of Thujas, Eetinosporas, and Pines 

 duly represented. Plants cultivated in pots are usually placed near the gar- 

 dener's house, or put under a shed of bamboo- work. He protects his tender plants 

 in rooms, which are fitted with shelves, in the winter months. Glass-houses 

 have not yet been built. Among these plants you will find the Cacti, Aloes, 

 Fuchsia, &c. 



Dwarf plants are greatly esteemed by the Japanese, and they are wonderfully 

 clever in making miniature gardens. I have seen a porcelain flower-pot, 7 

 inches square by 3 inches in length, in which was actually growing two fir- 

 trees, a fruit-tree, and a bamboo. The trees and plants generally chosen for 

 dwarfing are Bamboos, Plum, Cherry, Pines, Junipers, and Thujas. I will en- 

 deavour to give your readers a description of the art of dwarfing trees, which I 

 have learnt. It is one I always had a great interest in when in England ; and 

 finding the Japanese plan quite different from our English one, it will no doubt 

 concern your readers. In the East the art of dwarfing trees is based upon one 

 of the commonest principles of vegetable physiology. Their practice is per- 

 fectly correct, and would astonish some of our cleverest horticulturists. If 

 they can, by the means they adopt, check or retard the flow of the sap in the 

 trees, they prove that the formation of wood and leaves is likewise retarded. 

 This they do by confining the roots in a small pot, withholding water, and 

 training the branches into any design they wish. They generally bend the 

 main stem into a zigzag form, which checks the flow of the sap, and forces the 

 side branches out of the stem, where they are most required. The pots in 

 which they are planted are narrow and shallow, holding a very small quantity 

 of soil, and only sufficient water is given to keep the plant alive. "When the 

 new branches shoot they are tied down in various ways, and twisted into any 

 design the gardener wishes. All the strong ones are cut off, and every means is 

 adopted to discourage any young shoots possessing any degree of vigour. 

 Nature, as a consequence, struggles against this mode of treatment for a time, 

 until she quietly yields to the power of the gardener. Care is taken to prevent 

 the roots getting through the pot into the ground, and also the supply of too 

 much moisture ; as, if it received moisture, the plant would recover its original 

 vigour, and the endeavour of the gardener be frustrated. Plum-trees generally 

 flower quickly by this treatment. I have in my drawing-room two specimens, 

 of Orange-trees, with at least forty oranges on, although neither of them is 

 above two feet high. On a future occasion I will give your readers some 

 account of the silk manufacture.— Yours truly, J. TaskePw Foster. 



