JAPANESE HUSBANDRY. 387 



Hundreds of footpaths and small ravines lead to channing 

 transitions between pine and cotton, hill and dale ; everywhere 

 there is a gay medley of laurels, myrtles, cypresses, and above 

 all, shining camellias. 



The land is of volcanic origin, and the entire surface belongs 

 to the tufa and the diluvium formation. The soil on the hills 

 consists of an extremely fine, yet not over fat brown clay ; 

 whereas that of the valleys is throughout the country, with 

 some trifling modifications, of a black, loose, and deep garden 

 mould, which upon trial in different places I found extended to 

 a depth of 12 to 15 feet, being throughout of the same quality, 

 though somewhat more compact in the deeper layers. An 

 impermeable stratum of clay probably underlies this arable 

 crust. As the clay strata of the mountains, in consequence of 

 the frequent and copious falls of rain, give rise to a multitude 

 of springs, which are everywhere at hand, and may thus easily 

 and without any great skill, be turned to account for the purpose 

 of irrigation ; so the impermeability of the stratum underlying 

 the surface soil in the valleys enables the Japanese husbandmen 

 to turn the soil at pleasure into a swamp, for the cultivation of 

 rice. 



Whichever way one may feel inclined to decide the question, 

 whether the present fruitfulness of the soil is simply the arti- 

 ficial product of cultivation continued for a period of several 

 thousand years, or whether this fertility existed from the begin- 

 ning, making this people love and cherish the labours of agricul- 

 ture, this much must be granted, at all events, that the clay 

 of the diluvium, the mild climate, and abundance of water, 

 afforded all the conditions, and the most convenient means, for 

 a thriving cultivation. All these advantages have been most 

 carefully turned to account by an industrious, ingenious, and 

 solder people; and husbandry in Japan has become a truly 

 national occupation. The Japanese have thoroughly mastered 

 the difficult task of maintaining agriculture in a state of the 

 highest perfection, although its pursuit is entirely in the 

 hands of peasants and yeomen, who take rank in the sixth and 

 last but one class of the social scale, and no Japanese gentleman 

 is a farmer. There are no agricultural institutions for instruc- 

 tion in husbandry, no agricultural societies, no academies, no 



