104 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



partment of the state religion at Tokio provides each govern- 

 ment temple annually with an instrument consisting of a 

 stick resembling a broom handle, to one end of which a 

 quantity of tough white paper cut into strips after a peculiar 

 conventional fashion is fastened. With this the chief priest 

 walks formally into the centre of a large area before the tem- 

 ple, around which the people are assembled. There he faces 

 in proper order the several sides of the universe, and by 

 vigorous passes of this wand he sweeps out the evil in- 

 fluences ; then follows the scattering of rice, after which 

 ofierings are made before the altar and the mirror, such of 

 these as the gods may leave for that purpose becoming a rich 

 perquisite of the priestly office. 



Upon the 14th of February, in 1879, a letter in Japanese 

 was brought to my classroom by a messenger from the local 

 capitol. I passed it to an intelligent student for verbal 

 translation. Our students, like the official classes, generally 

 were not ardent devotees of their religion, a large number 

 of them indeed having professed the orthodox Christian faith 

 under the guidance of the late President Clark. His sombre 

 visage brightened, and his eye twinkled, as he interpreted 

 the following official notification : " Sir, to-morrow will be a 

 holiday, for God is come from Tokio." The glad tidings 

 were duly appreciated by the listeners, all of whom recog- 

 nized the propriety of the observance of an event so im- 

 portant in the annals of Sapporo. The god that came from 

 Tokio was the spirit exterminator or broom, of which I have 

 spoken, the day after it is received being set apart each 

 year for its dedication and use. 



There are no better standards for gauging the physical 

 well-being of a people than the agricultural development of 

 their territory, their annual production of wealth, and the 

 amount and character of the food they consume. 



A few comparisons between the sea-girt empire of Japan 

 and the insular kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland reveal 

 some illustrative facts. 



The area of Japan is 143,000, and of the British Isles 

 122,000 square miles. Their populations in 1874 were 

 33,300,00 and 32,600,000, respectively, being at the rates 

 of 234 and 267 per square mile. 



