JAPAN 



ADMIRAL AUGUSTO AUBRY; d. March 4, 1912. He entered the Italian navy in 1866, 

 served at Lissa, and reached the rank of rear-admiral in 1903. In February 1911 he was 

 appointed commander of the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean, and on the outbreak of the 

 war with Turkey (September 1911) he conducted the opening naval operations. 



GIOVANNI PASCOLI, the poet (see E.B. xiv, 9i2c); b. at San Mauro in Romagna, 

 December 31, 1855; d. at Barga, April 6, 1912. In 1891 he published his first volume of 

 verse entitled Myricae, and in 1897 his Primi Poemetti. Other volumes Secondi Poemetti, 

 I canti di Castelvecchio, Odi ed inni, Canti conviviali, Li Canzoni del Re Enzo. In addition 

 he wrote much elegant Latin verse. He was also known as a prose essayist, and for his 

 Dunte studies, which led to his appointment as professor of Italian literature at the university 

 of Bologna. An ardent lover of nature and of simple rustic things, he could never quite 

 reconcile himself to modern progress. He had been a Socialist in his early days and had 

 strongly opposed the Abyssinian campaign of 1895-6, but in later years he made politics 

 subordinate to patriotism. The Canzoni del Re Enzo tell of the glories of the Mediaeval 

 communes of Italy; the poems published on the occasion of the Jubilee festivities of 1911 

 celebrate the triumphs of Italian unity; while his speech delivered in November 191 1 at Barga 

 was the finest piece of prose evoked by the war in Tripoli. 



GIULIO RICORDI, the music publisher; b. in 1840; d. at Milan on June 6, 1912. He 

 succeeded his father, Tito, in 1888 as head of the firm, founded by his grandfather, Giovanni, 

 in 1808. He was the personal friend of Verdi and was brought into business relations with 

 many other composers. He was himself a composer of songs and piano music, which he 

 published under the pseudonym of "Jules Burgmein." 



EUSABETTA, DUCHESS OF GENOA; b. in 1830; d. on August 15, 1912, at Stresa. A 

 daughter of King John of Saxony, she married Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa, son of King 

 Charles Albert of Sardinia and brother of Victor Emmanuel II, in April 1850. Her daughter 

 Margherita afterwards married her cousin Prince Humbert, and became Queen of Italy. 

 Two years after the death of the Duke of Genoa in 1855 his widow married Marchese Rapallo. 



ENRICO ANNIBALE Bum, the art -critic, novelist and dramatist (see E. B. xiv, g\2c); 

 b. 1856; d. November 26, 1912. 



PIETRO LACAVA, the oldest member of the Chamber of Deputies, in which he had sat 

 continuously for 44 years; formerly minister of Public Works and of Finance; b. 1835; 

 d December 26, 1912. (Luici VILLARI.; 



JAPAN 1 



The population of Japan Proper increased from 48,774,285 in 1907 to 52,200,000 in 

 1912 (26,380,000 males; 25,820,000 females). The density is about 350 per sq. m. 

 Korea had a population of 13,461,300; Formosa 3,443,600; Saghalien 43,000. 



Agriculture. More than 60 per cent of the Japanese population is engaged in agricul- 

 tural pursuits. The Government have made consistent efforts to encourage co-operative 

 enterprise, and a Law with this object in view was introduced in 1899, and amended in 

 1909, by which special concessions were granted in order to stimulate the industry. 

 Special banks have also been established for facilitating the supply of capital for agricul- 

 tural purposes. The Co-operative Societies Law had as its object the formation of 

 societies for assisting those with small capital. The societies formed under this Act 

 numbered 8,663 at the end of 1911. In 1910 the Government provided facilities for 

 borrowing money at low interest through the Japan Hypothec Bank and the Hokkaido 

 Colonial Bank. A State Agricultural Experimental Station was established in Tokyo 

 with branches in Kyushu, Kinai, (Middle Provinces) and Riku-u (North-eastern Prov- 

 inces) for the purpose of carrying out investigations relative to soil, fertilisers, seeds, 

 diseases, insect-pests, stock-breeding, and agricultural implements. Horticultural 

 experiments are also carried out in the Horticultural Experimental Station in the Prefec- 

 ture of Shidzuoka and in many of the local agricultural stations 



The chief agricultural products consist of rice, barley and wheat, millet, soy and small 

 red beans, buckwheat, potatoes, cotton, hemp, indigo, and sugar-cane. The cultivation of 

 tea, tobacco and silk are also extensive and growing industries. The total areas, in 1909 

 and 1910, under cultivation for these different products are shown in Table I. 



In 1911 the figures (i = 1000) for rice were 7,432.7 acres and 206,406.7 bushels; barley, 

 rye and wheat 4,412.5 acres and 108,631.3 bushels; tea 77.0 acres and 69,894.4 pounds. 



It should be noted in regard to tea, that although the total area under cultivation has 

 been considerably reduced, the quantities produced have consistently increased, the year 

 1911 being the most prolific period in the industry. The great attention which has been 

 paid by the Government to questions of cultivation and manufacture at the State Agricultural 



1 See E. B. xv, 156 et seq. 



