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manure produced, with the exception of the ashes derived from burned straw and refuse 

 vegetable matter, must pass through the human system before being returned to the soih 

 The dense population, and the small holdings, which consist of farms of from two to live 

 acres, require the utmost care and attention of the cultivator, to secure the greatest crop 

 which it is possible continuously to raise from year to year. As no cattle are used, all 

 the cultivation has to be done by hand. 



The manure is carefully collected and stored in large earthenware tanks, of a capacity 

 of from eight to twelve cubic feet. These are let into the ground nearly to the Vjrim^ 

 and during rain are carefully covered, but are exposed to the heat of the sun. The only 

 mixture added is water. When the tanks are full, having been intimately mixed from 

 time to time by stirring, it is left, according to the state of the weather, to stand from 

 two to three weeks longer, or until required for use ; but under no circumstances is it 

 ever used in a fresh state. Collections of manure are made from every available source, 

 and the towns are carefully explored, to give their quota to the rural districts. Thousands 

 of boats may be soen early each morning loaded with high piles of buckets, full of the 

 precious material, returning through the various canals, which extend far into the country. 

 Besides this mode of conveyance, in the evening long strings of Coolies are met on 

 the road, having in the morning carried their produce to market, and arc now returning 

 to the country laden with two pails of manure each. Caravans and pack-horses which 

 have brought fine manufactured articles, such as silk and lacquered goods, a distance of 

 two or three hundred miles, from the interior to the capital, return freighted with baskets 

 and buckets of manure. By this means a perfect circulation is kept up of the forces of 

 nature, and no link in the chain is ever broken. 



In Japan, manure is applied in a li(][uid state to the growing crops, and no crop is 

 grown if a sufficient quantity of manure is not at hand to fertilize it with. If the life 

 sustaining principle is not in the cultivators tank the crop is not sown. In this and all 

 European countries Ihe grain and other products are brought to market, but nothing to 

 compensate it is i-eturned, consequently the force to produce eventually gives out, and 

 production is reduced. 



Under the Japanese system of agriculture one would suppose the ci'ops would be of 

 an exceedingly luxuriant character, but such is not the case. There is nothing extrava- 

 gant in the appearance of the Japanese crops. But what does distinguish them most, as 

 compared with our own, is the certainty and uniformity with which they have been pro- 

 duced for thousands of years. If facts are required to prove this assertion, it may be 

 stated that the empire covers a similar area to that of the British Isles ; but owing to the 

 hilly nature of the country only about one half is fit for cultivation. Yet they have a 

 larger population than Great Britain and Ireland, and still they maintain themselves 

 without obtaining food from other countries, as is the case with the United Kingdom, 

 which imports many millions of dollars worth, in the shape of meat and breadstuffs, etc. ; 

 and since the opening of its ports, Japan is actually exporting large quantities of food. 



In Japan all crops are grown in drills, which are so arranged that, during the same 

 season several crops are produced from the same piece of ground. For instance, in the 

 middle of October a field of buckwheat will be found planted in rows of from twenty-four 

 to twenty-six inches apart,the intervening, now, vacant space had been sown previou:-ily with 

 small white turnip radishes, which have already been gathered. This space is now being tilled 

 with the hoe, as deep as is possible, by the implement employed. A portion of the fresh 

 earth is raked from the middle of the row up to the buckwheat, now in full flower. A 

 furrow is made between the rows in which the gray winter pea is sown, the seed is then 

 manured and carefully covered with soil. By the time the peas are two inches high the 

 buckwheat is ready to cut, a few days after the rows where it stood, are dug up and 

 sown with winter wheat or turnips. Thus crop follows crop in grand and endless 

 procession, month after month, and year after year, as there is no season which is not 

 suitaVjle for the growth of some sort of produce. If howaver, there is a deficiency of 

 manure, the interval is left fallow. What wonderful ingenuity and appliances would it 

 require in this country to keep up such a strain on our soils 1 Yet, these half-civilized 

 creatures, which our most enlightened chemists and cultivators would look down upon 

 with contempt, have solved the whole problem of supply and demand, keeping their land 



