234 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



for evergreen hedges, and its finely developed trees are to be admired 

 in temple groves and avenues (see illustration in vol. i. p. 150). 

 It is most frequently found forming larger or smaller cultivated 

 forests throughout the entire empire, from the islands of Riukiu 

 to Yezo, for it is a marvellous wood producer and serves for house- 

 building as well as the manufacture of boxes of all sizes. 



The Cryptomeria are not so ornamental when young as many 

 other pines. And the trees must be seen at their full growth 

 in order to be able to appreciate their favour in temple groves 

 and along the roads leading thereto — gigantic figures frequently 5 

 to 6 m. in circumference and often tall, perpendicular shafts 20 to 

 25 m. high which raise their dark green, regular, conical heads 

 from 10 to 15 m. higher. 



From earliest years they blossom every spring and bear fruit 

 abundantly, but an after-growth is seldom seen in the Sugi forest 

 any more than in the Hi-no-ki wood, so that the variety would 

 probably die out if it were not for human interference. It is akin 

 in this to the giant Sequoia of California, to which it has, in habitat, 

 also much similarity. It is cultivated from slips and seedlings, 

 chiefly from the latter. The tree demands a deep soil and pro- 

 tection against storms. We find its forests in the valleys and on 

 mountain sides to about 1,000 m. high. In plantations on a light 

 clay soil the ground must be carefully treated like arable land, 

 deeply ploughed and freed from all weeds. The seeds sown in 

 rows in the autumn sprout the next spring. At the end of the 

 second year the seedlings reach a height of 0*50 to 0'6o m. and 

 are transplanted in the following spring. Sugi grows rapidly. 

 Four-year-old trees have an average height of i*8o m. and in a 

 good soil their circumference will be 0*45 m. in ten years, and in 

 fifty years 2 meters. 



The wood of the Cryptomeria is brownish red at the core, sap- 

 wood white, easily split, of agreeable smell, easy to work, durable 

 in water, but also very brittle. The colour changes very consider- 

 ably with its growth and its condition, from bright red to a dark 

 reddish brown, like the walnut. This colour also distinguishes the 

 sub-species known by the name of Jindai-sugi, while Yaku-sugi 

 shows a brownish red, fire-striped colour, and Kurobe a reddish 

 brown. On account of its beautiful colour and ease of working it 

 is preferred for most purposes to that of pine and fir, and is higher 

 in price. It is not therefore used in bridge building nor in other 

 places where elasticity and strength to bear heavy weight is ne- 

 cessary. The English usually call the Cryptomeria Japanese cedar, 

 and built great expectations on its cultivation forty years ago, when 

 first introduced by Fortune. These expectations have been as 

 little fulfilled, however, as in other places north of the Alps. The 

 tree is very sensitive to severe cold and long summer coolness, 

 while the dry, hot climate, e.g.^ of the Canaries suits it well. In 

 Germany it grows in only a few protected places, like the Heidel- 



