FRUITS AND FLOWERS OF NORTHERN JAPAN. 41 



A brief glance at the position, size, and physical peculiarities of 

 Yesso ; together with a few remarks upon the nature of its soil and 

 climate and some of the most striking peculiarities of its flora, 

 must precede the mention of any of its special features. 



Yesso lies off the coast of Siberia, from which it is separated by 

 the Japan sea, which at the narrowest point between the island 

 and the continent is about two hundred miles broad. The island 

 of Sachalen, which is separated from the continent by a narrow 

 strait, approaches to within about thirty miles of Yesso. The 

 Kuriles on the north also afford a means of connection with Kam- 

 chatka ; and the larger Japanese islands, with smaller subsidiary 

 chains, make plant immigration from Corea and China a possi- 

 bility. Thus Yesso is so situated that the way was open for the 

 immigration of Asiatic plants from north, west, and south, and 

 this fact, in connection with climatic and other peculiarities to be 

 mentioned, accounts for the extraordinary richness of its flora. 



Yesso lies between about 41^ and 45^ degrees north latitude ; 

 and, exclusive of narrow capes, extends from about 140 to 145 

 degrees east longitude. Its area is about 27,000 square miles, — 

 a little less than the area of Ireland. According to Benjamin 

 Smith Lyman, former Chief of the Geological Survey, the island 

 has 7,000 square miles of land suitable for farming, 6,000 square 

 miles of pasturage, 5,000 square miles of forest, and 9,000 square 

 miles of mountains. He estimates that only about twenty-five 

 per cent of the total area is fitted for cultivation, and from per- 

 sonal observation I judge that even this estimate is too high. 

 The face of the country is very mountainous and rugged, although 

 there are a few broad plains and river valleys. The highest 

 mountains attain an elevation of about 8,000 feet, but the great 

 majority range from 1,000 to 4,000 feet in height; and, except 

 near the sea-shore where the trees have been cut off to supply fuel 

 to the fishermen, they are wooded to their summits. The lower 

 slopes, up to an elevation of about five hundred to one thousand 

 feet, according to locality, are covered with a rich growth of 

 deciduous trees, — maples, oaks, magnolias, Cercidiphyllums, 

 elms, lindens, cherries, and birches predominating. Above these 

 altitudes conifers, chiefly two species of spruce, predominate. 

 All these trees usually reach a large size. The growth is, however, 

 rather open and scattered as a rule, and the undergrowth is char- 

 acterized by extraordinary luxuriance and density. By far the 



