MiU'ch 12, 1874. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



221 



every Potato in my garden being in the ground by the 28t h of 

 February, and every Potato out of the ground and in the 

 Potato house by the 18th of August. I rarely have a diseased 

 Potato, and last year I beheve I had not one, though my crop 

 w.as enormous.— H. G. M., Guildford. 



ANOTHER RAIDISSEUE. 

 It was only last week that wa reproduced from the " Revue 

 Horticole " a raidisseur which is at once cheap, simple, and 

 effective; the same recommendations are also claimed, in that 

 excellent periodical, by M. Carbou, of Carcassonne, for the 

 form which we now figure. It consists of a small strap of 



iron 4 to o inches long, four-nfths of an inch broad, and an 

 eighth of an inch thick. The head is rather wider than the 

 rest of the band, and rounded ; riveted into it is another 

 piece with a flat top, and through the standard (a), of this the 

 wire is passed before fixing it to the wall or post. The wire is 

 then wound-up by a half turn of the band, b, and when 

 tightly stretched passed into the notch at the other end, and 

 thus held fast. 



JAPANESE GARDENING. 



Shimonoseki, Dec. lat, 1873. 



The weather here has continued very fine, and the farmers 

 have finished sowing their Wheat and Barley crops, and most 

 of the plants are up and look well, the showers of rain which 

 have fallen at intervals having been most beneficial. When 

 writing my last letter I omitted to notice the Umbrella Pine, 

 which I find is very common in Japan. The finest specimens 

 are found near the old Buddhist temples. I have seen some 

 80 and 90 feet high. They are trees of great beauty, and, 

 being evergreen, they are a great acquisition to ornamental 

 gardens. They have leaves of a deep green colour, arranged 

 in whorls, each something like a parasol, and some have leaves 

 and branches so dense that the stem cannot be seen. [This is 

 Soiadopityf! verticiUata, respecting which the following parti- 

 culars are given by Mr. Gordon in his " Pinetum :" — " Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Fortune (who first sent living plants of it to Mr. 

 Staudish of the Royal Mursery at Bagshot, in 1861), it is a 

 large pyramidal tree with horizontal spreading branches, which 

 attains a height of from 100 to 150 feet, and from 10 toll feet 

 in circumference 3 feet from the ground, and not a large bush 

 or small tree from 12 to \i> feet high, as originally stated by 

 Dr. Siebold in his ' Flora Japonica.' The Japanese, however, 

 have several varieties, among which some are dwarf bushes, 

 others beautifully variegated. Dr. Siebold considers the Um- 

 brella Fir the finest Conifer of Japan, and one which presents 

 an appearance as strange as elegant, in consequence of its in- 

 numerable ramifications, which always end in a parasol-like 

 tuft of leaves. Dr. Lindley says the Sciadopitys is nearly 

 related to the genus WeUingtonia, a statement which, from 

 all appearances, seems very qiiestionable. 



" Its Japanese names are ' Koja-Maki'* (the wild or Mount 

 Kojasan Maki), and ' Inu-Maki ' (the spurious or false Maki) ; 

 while those of the Chinese are ' Kiu-sung-Maki ' (the pale 

 yellow Maki), and ' Kin-sjo ' (common yellow), on account of 

 the leaves being of a pale or yellowish-green colour, especially 

 when young."] 



I went across to the island of Kin-siu on the 24th November. 

 I took my gun with me, and I was enabled to kUl more game 

 than we could consume, principally snipe and wild duck. I 

 shot six of the latter on the 26th. Pheasants are scarce here ; 

 I base only shot two all the season. 



I think I have never told you that the street dogs here, as in 

 every other district in Japan not opened to foreigners, show 

 great enmity towards them. They evince their hostility in a 

 manner not to be mistaken by barking in a furious manner ; 

 but they are great cowards, and always, as a rule, keep beyond 

 your reach. There are, however, instances reported where 

 they have attacked Europeans. There was one case where an 



* Maki i^ tlie name commonly appliei], both in China and .Tapan, to all the 

 Iwge-leavfcd Yew-likt ylanls, such qs Poikcarpus, Sciatlopitye, Ac. 



engineer from one of the Japanese maii-steamers was on his 

 way to Sinagawa to obtain a conveyance to Tokio last year. 

 Ho reported that after landing near the execution ground he 

 was attacked by a pack of twenty dogs, and had to take refuge 

 in the trees until a number of Japanese came to his rescue. 

 The Japanese dogs are about the size of an Englisli shepherd's 

 dog, and something of the same colour ; but are not of the 

 slightest use except for their barking propensities at strangers. 

 They are such a nuisance that I have found it necessary to 

 kiU numbers of them at Shimonoseki. 



I was at Kokura on the 29th November, and went to see a 

 wrestling tournament. This sport is highly patronised by all 

 the higher classes in Japan, and the wrestlers themselves were 

 formerly of the "Samouri" or two-sworded class. They are 

 certainly the tallest and best-built men in the kingdom, some 

 standing 6 feet 2 inches high. I wUl give you a full account 

 of what I saw at this tournament, but before doing so I must 

 inform you that there is no kicking or clasping the body 

 below the belt allowed in Japan, the same as in the north of 

 England. It more resembles the Cornish wrestling, which 

 I saw when I was living in that county. The company of 

 wrestlers I went to see at Kokura numbered sixty-six, and are 

 perhaps one of the best selected troupes in Japan. Theyiare 

 from Osaka and Tokio, and obtain their living by exhibiting 

 themselves at different large towns. The tournament took 

 place in a very large circus, the ring being in the centre, and 

 the boxes raised each to hold five persons at the back. The 

 price for a box was one dollar J boo. There is a ringmaster to 

 stop the wrestling if he sees anything unfair, and two referees, 

 one stationed at each side of the ring, by whom all disputes 

 are decided when the ringmaster appeals to them, and their 

 decision is final. The presents the first-class wrestlers receive 

 from the merchants are numerous and costly. The champion 

 wrestler had two hundred dollars in money given to him the 

 day I visited the place, besides several dresses, &c., of great 

 value. Before commencing wrestling the combatants are all 

 sent into the ring in batches, each having the wrestler's apron 

 on, which is most elaborate and costly, some having cost as 

 much as six hundred doUars each, and none less than two 

 hundred. They are worked in gold and silver, and reach with 

 the gold fringe on the bottom from the waist belt to the 

 ground. The younger wrestlers cannot wear this apron until 

 they have passed a Government examination in Tokio, to prove 

 that their skill entitles them to use the badge, whicli is con- 

 sidered highly honourable. On the day in question the circus 

 was crowded to excess, it being one of the two great days for 

 presenting presents. 'This company by the Government charter 

 which they hold can only exhibit on seven days at any pro- 

 vincial town, and ten days at either Tokio or Osaka. We 

 arrived at the circus about a quarter to one o'clock, and 

 punctual to their time (one o'clock) the first-class wrestlers 

 presented themselves, after which the wi-estling commenced, 

 and did not finish till nearly five o'clock. I was very much 

 pleased with it, as there is nothing rough or unmanly in the 

 sport. All the wrestlers have a superstition that if they throw 

 down a handful of salt they will get the best start ; therefore 

 each one sprinkles salt before he goes into the centre of the 

 ring. It is not absolutely necessary for the winner to throw 

 his man ; if he can only force his opponent out of the circle 

 that is sufficient. After the wrestling is over the presents 

 from merchants, gentlemen, and others are presented to the 

 winners, consisting of almost everything you can mention, 

 from money to valuable dresses, blankets, hearthrugs, &a. 



On the evening of the 27th wo experienced a rather severe 

 shock of an earthquake. I was at Kokura, and at about 

 11.20 P.M. I was awoke by the unpleasant sensation of the 

 shocks, which resembled the motion of a ship at sea in heavy 

 weather. The shocks lasted for about five minutes altogether. 

 I am happy to say that earthquakes appear to be dying-out in 

 this beautiful country, and are now not even half so numerous 

 as when I arrived about two years since. — J. Taskep. Foster. 



Royal Hobticui.tural Society.— General meetings of the 

 Society for the election of Fellows, etc., were held on the 21st of 

 January, 18th of February, and 4t.h of March, when the follow- 

 ing candidates were elected Fellows— viz., George S. Duff, Miss 

 Lilburn, Mrs. McLean, Mrs. F. W. Macle.au, Gilbert Mc-Micking, 

 Mrs. Alfred Morrison, Mrs. Paul, Herbert H. H. Eickett.i, Lieut. 

 General Sir John St. George, Charles Henry Sladen, Thomas 

 Sutherland, Miss Emma 'Taylor, J. Hudson Watson, Major- 

 General Beadle, E.E., Major E. J. Charter, Lady John Chichester, 

 Robert C. Driver, Mrs. Duuville, Mrs. John Fletcher, Mrs. W. 



