AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 267 



(Kuki). One would scarcely suppose that under such circumstances 

 there could be such a thing as ** the art of arranging flowers " in 

 set pieces. Nevertheless Japanese literature possesses under this 

 or similar titles a number of works full of illustrations in which, 

 however, the many forms of Hana-ike or flower-vase play a con- 

 spicuous part, and a labouring man, obliged to content himself with 

 a cylinder vase of bamboo cane, or an earthen vessel, can learn 

 but little to his advantage. 



The enjoyment of beautiful flowers is common to all the Japanese 

 people. Even the humble labourer is a customer at the gardens 

 where flowers are kept for sale. In view of this, Hana-ichi, or 

 flower markets, are often held on summer evenings, lighted with 

 torches of pitch and many-coloured lanterns. They attract the 

 poorer classes especially, and afford them an opportunity to gain 

 a flowering sprig of the most popular plants, which bloom at this 

 time. 



There is perhaps no other nation of which all classes enjoy nature, 

 and especially her flora gifts, to such a degree. This shows itself 

 particularly at times when this or that favourite flower is blooming 

 in the open fields. With us, in the outskirts of our cities, the 

 difl'erent resorts attract great numbers of people on Sunday and 

 other festivals. But in the Japanese cities it is a much more com- 

 mon sight at times to see the streets full of merry men and women 

 of all ages and ranks, dressed in holiday attire, seeking here the 

 blooming cherry-trees on the hill, there the sword lily in the open 

 field, and yonder a garden of chrysanthemums, or the beautiful 

 autumn leaves of the maple and other plants. 



If we consider further that this love for flowers is no new thing 

 with the Japanese, but existed long ago, when our whole civiliza- 

 tion was in its swaddling clothes, we can easily estimate something 

 of the influence it has exerted from the beginning. More than a 

 thousand years ago, the poet Mitsune, whose verse on the fragrance 

 of the Mume is quoted on the next page, wrote as follows con- 

 cerning the Fuji, or Glycine {Wistaria chinensis) that was blos- 

 soming on his dwelling. 



" So, wie die Woge zum Strand, so kehren die Leute stets wieder, 

 Wandelnd am Hause vorbei, staunen den Fuji sie an." ^ 



The number of species and sub-species of the ornamental plants 

 of Japan is very great, but only a small selection have become 

 especially popular. The rose is not one of these, and even the 

 camellia, notwithstanding it is so much cultivated, does not rank 

 among the highest. Their favourites, which are associated with 

 their civilization, their festival seasons, their entire life, and are 

 constantly reappearing in their art-industry as patterns, were long 



1 " Waga yado ni | sakeru fuji nami | tachi kaeri | sugigate ni nomi | hito no 

 miruramu."— R. Lange, Old Japanese Spring-ballads. Berlin, Weidmann, 1884. 



