JAPANESE HUSBANDRY. 395 



in which it was sought to he carried out in England, l)ut in ac- 

 cordance with the present condition of German agriculture. 



4. j\Ianuri)ig ivith every crop. 



The Japanese never cultivates a crop without manuring it, 

 but he gives each crop or seed exactly as much and no more 

 manure than is required for its full developement. He does not 

 care about enriching the soil for future crops. What he 

 demands is simply a full crop in return for each sowing. How 

 often do we hear our farmers talk about this manure being pre- 

 ferable to that manure on account of its fertilising action being 

 ' more lasting ; ' yet with all our wise provision for the future, 

 how far are we now behind the Japanese, who seem to look 

 always to the next harvest only! As they manure for each 

 fresh crop, and the term ' fallow ' in our acceptation is en- 

 tirely unknown to them, they are forced to distribute their 

 yearly production of manure equally over the entire area of 

 their land, which can be accomplished only by sowing in drills 

 or farrows, and by top-dressing. 



The contrast between this rational system and the profuse 

 application of our long straw manure over the whole surfiice of 

 the field is truly glaring. 



I may also add here that the manure in the Japanese towns 

 is never artifically turned into guano or poudrette, but is sent 

 every night and morning in its natural form into the country 

 around, to return again after a time in the shape of beans or 

 turnips. Thousands of boats may be seen early each morning 

 laden with high heaps of buckets full of the precious stuff, which 

 they carry from the canals in the cities to the country. These 

 boats come and go with the regularity of the post ; it must be 

 admitt<jd, however, that it is a species of martyrdom to be the 

 conductor of a mail boat of this kind. In the evening long 

 strings of coolies are met with on the road, who having in 

 the morning carried the produce of the country to the town, are 

 returning home each with two buckets of manure, not in a solid 

 and concentrated form, but fresh from the privies. Caravans of 

 packhorses, which often have brought manufactured articles 

 (silk, oil, lacquered goods, &c.\ a distance of 200 to 300 miles 

 from the interior to the capital, are sent home again freighted 

 with baskets or buckets of manure ; in such cases, however, care 

 is taken t^ select solid excrements. 



