t 3 ) 



vegetables increased. Among the Japanese the natural demand 

 for a highly nourishing diet has always been smaller than 

 among the nations of Europe and America, and this, together 

 with the influence of Buddhism, is the reason that there has 

 been so limited a demand in Japan for food in the nature of 

 fruits, consequently their cultivation has never been fostered to 

 any extent and has made but little progress. On the contrary, 

 in Japan there are numerous varieties af vegetables, many of 

 which are of a high character, and in the neighbourhood of 

 the larger cities there are extensive market gardens whose 

 products are quite celebrated. There is no doubt that Europe 

 and America are well advanced in the production of vegetables, 

 especially in the art of forcing, which method has not been 

 adopted in Japan; but it is nevertheless a fact that vegetables 

 grown in Japan in the open ground are not only not inferior, 

 but are in some instances superior, in quality, to those raised 

 in Europe or America. It is seldom in Japan that the ground 

 becomes frozen to the extent that work becomes impossible 

 in winter, as is commonly the case in many other countries, 

 and market gardens around cities like Tokyo and Yokohama 

 are kept in continuous cultivation. This fact together with the 

 acquisition of vegetables from warmer districts diminishes the 

 necessity for the forcing processes adopted in Europe and 

 America. It has been stated that there are in the suburbs 

 of Tokyo only two establishments which have adopted the 

 European style of forcing, and the largest of these has 

 only eighty frames working on a quarter of an acre of 

 ground. 



Whatever may be said of our vegetables, it is but natural 

 that we should have some fine fruits among the variety 

 grown in such an extended latitude and the various 

 altitudes found in Japan, and many of these are abundant 

 in quantity and of a superior quality ; but notwithstanding 

 this, they are generally regarded by the Japanese — who have 

 no idea of their .hygienic value — as a. luxury and to be used 



