August 25, 1808. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICtTLTUEE XSSD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



149 



aiTived in this country, and others are on the way. We are 

 in the way of realising- our expectations, that Mr. Hogg- 

 would very materially enrich our collections of ornamental 

 and useful plants. If in doing this he could at the same 

 time succeed in learning the Japanese the use of improved 

 horticidtui-al implements, and subdue some of their peciiliar 

 prejudices, he would be benefiting two nations at one and 

 the same time :— 



"Kalmgswa, Apiil 30lh, 1863. 



"Mr. Editok, — Although much has been wi-itten extol- 

 ling the climate of this country, my experience of it in the 

 past winter confirms all that has been said regarding it. 

 The change from living in a climate of at times almost 

 ai-ctic severity to one where the cold is just sufficient to 

 bring about the delightful changes of the seasons, renders 

 it a season of prolonged enjoyment, and really seems to add 

 so many days to the span of life. In the northern and 

 western parts of the country, where exposed to the cold 

 blasts from Tartary, it is said to be much colder; but the 

 ameliorating influences of the Pacific have a marked effect 

 on the eastern coast. Since the heavy rains of October 

 there has not been much wet weather until about a month 

 past, and then not very continuous, and probably not more 

 than necessary to sustain the growing ci-ops in the porous 

 sou of the counti-y. The verdure of the growing crops 

 gives a charming appeai-ance to the landscape. The entire 

 absence of fences between the fields gives a naturalness to 

 the prospect that is, in a certain sense, delightfid, but in 

 another point of view does away with the idea of individual 

 possession, so intimately associated in our minds with a 

 homestead and personal prosperity. The yards sui-rounding 

 the houses are usually enclosed with a rude hedge of Cryj)- 

 tomeria, Eetinospora, Althaea, or some other strong-gi-owing 

 shrub. Theii- mode of trimming a hedge is very rough, and 

 it is only occasionally that you see one at all neat and pass- 

 able as a real hedge. I have never yet seen one clipped 

 pyramidal. 



r " It seldom happens that there is sufficient fi-ost to impede 

 the working of the soil, and during the past winter not 

 once ; and there is no doubt it is owing to the fact of the 

 frost not penetrating the soil to any considerable depth 

 that so many plants that are hardy here prove too tender to 

 withstand our climate. Very rarely ice is formed of suffi- 

 cient thickness for skating. The soil is a deep, black, light 

 loam, mnch resembling the soil frequently used for growing 

 Camellias found in the ledges and at the base of rocks. 

 Much has been said of its productiveness ; but in this I 

 t hink it is more owing to liquid-manuring continually 

 applied than to any very great natural fertility. That this 

 is the ease is occasionally very apparent, by observing 

 patches of gi-ain in places where manuring has been neg- 

 lected looking- very stunted and yellow. These remarks 

 apply only to the soil on the high lands, that in the 

 numerous intervening valleys where Eice is grown pro- 

 ducing large crops by irrigation alone. In places along the 

 vaUeys, where the surface is too elevated for the purposes of 

 irrigation, and yet too wet for gro'iving cereals, a simple 

 expedient is resorted to to bring it under culture for both, 

 by laying it out in sections of the same width, about 30 feet, 

 and convenient length, and then throwing the soil of every 

 alternate section on the top of the ad'oining one until of 

 sufiicient height. On the raised sections grain or vegetables 

 are grown, and in the intermediate ones Eice. With you 

 such lands are chiefly used as meadows for hay or gi-azing ; 

 but here, where little or no meat is used for food, every 

 effort is used in raising grain for the support of the population. 

 " One di-awback in gardening here is the want of proper 

 native Grasses, in this respect resembling the Southei-n 

 States. A lawn is a thing ahiiost unknown, as I only know 

 of one attempt in that direction witliin the limits of foreign 

 residences. The Grrass used is a native perennial one, but 

 in the winter season turns entii-ely brown and loses its 

 beauty. It is a very close, dwarf-growing species, and 

 would be admu-ably adapted to the pui-ijose were it to keep 

 its coloiu- the whole season. A former resident, lately 

 retm-ned, has brought with her a vai-ietj^ of om- Grasses for 

 the purpose as an experiment, and it is to be hoped some of 

 them \vill prove successful, although I do not think the 

 Japanese, with their love for miniature gai-dening, wiU 

 appreciate them for some time to come. 



" In common -with the Chinese, all then- notions of beauty 

 seem to be in tortm-ing- into fantastic forms anything that 

 ^rill answer the i^m-pose. making fish-ponds with miniature 

 bridges a necessary accompaniment in every garden, rook- 

 work, imitations of mountains, &c. In their way some of 

 their designs are very pretty, and have a merit of then- own 

 not entirely to be condemned as a branch of art, and a 

 pleasing appendage where it can be properly introduced. 

 Of landscape-gardening, as understood with us, they seem 

 to have no idea. 



" At the present time the farmers are aU busy preparing 

 then- Eice lands and sowing their seed-beds for transplant- 

 ing. The labourers wade into the deep mud and bury the 

 noxious weeds that have come up during the early spi-ing by 

 tiu?ning over the soil with a pronged hoe like yoru- potato- 

 hoe, when it is soon covered again by the water rising to 

 the surface, rendering it level again. In one of my rambles 

 I was witness of theii' mode of sowing the seed. The patches 

 of land used for the purpose are prepared the same as the 

 others, and the seed sown very thickly. After it is sovsTi a 

 man follows with a long-handled broom, like a birch-broom, 

 and beats the surface until it becomes almost a liquid mass 

 on the top. I was sui-prised to find the grain had all been 

 sprouted untd the roots had become an eighth of an inch 

 long. 



" Vegetable-gardening is yet in its infancy here ; not that 

 there is not quite a variety grown, but that they seem to 

 have no appreciation of the advantages of prolonging the 

 season of any particular kind by forcing, or cultivating 

 earlier and later varieties, or successive sowings. Peas 

 sown in the fail ai-e now becoming plentiful ; but when this 

 crop is gone that is the end of tlieni for the season. The 

 same also with Lettuce, now entirely gone. CaiTots have 

 been very abundant and fine aU the winter. Another vege- 

 table they grow, called the Dy-ku — a name appUed to aU the 

 Eadish kind — is much used among themselves. Large ciuan- 

 tities of it are di-ied or pickled for winter's provision. It is 

 of the Eadish kind, only very large, averaging 18 inches, and 

 as large in diameter as the top end of a large Parsnip, not, 

 however, tapering, but terminating abruptly. It is pure 

 white, having somewhat of a tm-nip flavoiu- also. Whether 

 it has been inti-oduced since the country has been opened 

 to foreigners I am unable to say, but it is haa-dly possible 

 that its culture woiUd become so universal in so short a time, 

 besides never having seen it previously, although it might 

 have been introduced fi?om Eui-ope. The same might also 

 be said of Tomatoes and Egg Plants, which I saw exten- 

 sively cultivated in the neighbourhood of Yedo, both of very 

 small size. Whether they are a portion of the seeds distri- 

 buted at the time of Pen-y's expedition, or whether they 

 have been cultivated for yeai-s past, is a question I am 

 unable to determine. If they are, they have aUowed them 

 to sacUy degenerate. The question might be asked ' What 

 became of those seeds and others presented since ? Were 

 they cUplomaticaUy received with bows and thanks and then 

 quietly cast aside, or reaUy pirt to practical use ? ' 



" The implements of husbandry are of the most primitive 

 and simple description and few in number. The principal 

 one is a large heavy grub-hoe, in common use for aU imi-- 

 poses. It is either made of wood shod with iron, or in the 

 better kind, the blade is made entirely of iron. The blade 

 is usuaUy about 15 inches long and 6 to 8 broad, having a 

 short handle as in a common grub-hoe. It is an unwieldy 

 implement, but answers pretty weU in their Ught soU. The 

 difficulty attending- its use is, that the worker is continuaUy 

 treading-down the newly-tiu-ned soU. UntU some bold inno- 

 vator changes the custom of going bai-efoot, or at least 

 wearing something more sirbstantial than straw sandals, 

 the advantages of a spade cannot be turned to practica 

 account. They have an implement somewhat resembling 

 a spade, having a long blade without any shoulders for 

 resting the foot. For what particiUar pm-poses it is used I 

 do not know. These, together with the pronged hoe, the 

 sickle, a fanning-miU (consisting of a sunple wheel in a box 

 resembling the one in use with you), and an instrument 

 like a small road-scraper, made of bamboo with an iron 

 blade in fi-ont, and used for raising earth fi-om deep trenches, 

 are about aU that are used. Gardeners have very neatly- 

 made sieves either of bamboo or ^vu•e in addition to the 

 above. — T. H." — (American Horticulturist). 



