44-8 The National Geographic Magazine 



According to an investigation recently 

 made, Chinese rice can be bought at half 

 the price at present prevailing in Japan, 

 and but for the existence of the Chinese 

 "corn law," which prohibits any ex- 

 portation of rice, Japanese agriculture 

 would have suffered much more rapidly 

 and seriously. The competition of 

 China, where vast tracts of land are still 

 left uncultivated and where the price of 

 rice is cheap, must be expected sooner 

 or later, and then a serious fall in the 

 price of Japanese rice will set in, caus- 

 ing a series of agricultural changes. 



Japan can not hope to compete in agri- 

 cultural productions with those coun- 

 tries which have immense territory. 

 Hence Japan must rely on industrial 

 development rather than on agriculture, 



and must strive to excel in the quality 

 of goods produced rather than in quan- 

 tity. The examples of Egypt with its 

 cotton, Italy with its rice, France with, 

 its silk, and England with its wool and 

 sheep may well be cited as cases of 

 countries the limited area of which does 

 not allow them to compete with vast 

 countries in the quantity of agricultural 

 productions, but which in the quality 

 of their respective staples distance all 

 competitors. Japan possesses all the 

 advantages necessary to make her a 

 great manufacturing country. Her peo- 

 ple possess exceptional skill and labor 

 is relatively cheap ; coal is abundant, 

 and the raw material is easily obtainable 

 either at home or in the neighboring 

 countries. 



SOME PECULIAR FEATURES OF CEN- 

 TRAL AFRICAN GEOGRAPHY 



FOR about ten degrees south of the 

 equator in central Africa, in the 

 southern part of the Kongo Valley, one 

 is struck by the fact that the rivers, 

 streams, and lakes are usually bordered 

 with a dense vegetation, which extends 

 out from the water a distance propor- 

 tioned to the extent of the surface of the 

 water. Adjacent hills and mountains 

 are often found covered with dense vege- 

 tation on one side, and are bare on the 

 other. Beyond this bordering vegeta- 

 tion are found vast plains, almost tree- 

 less or with small scrub growth and 

 coarse, thin grass. Where the interior 

 is not level the hills are also bare of large 

 trees or heavy vegetable growth. 



This condition may be explained by 

 reference to several facts. For the 

 months from May to October there is a 

 dry season, when scarcely any rain falls 

 at all. The days are hot, but the nights 

 are cool, the thermometer often reading 

 50 F. There is a heavy evaporation 



from the waters during the day, followed 

 by condensation into dense fog at night. 

 This fog spreads out on the adjacent 

 sides of the waters and moistens the sur- 

 rounding territory, thus taking the place 

 of rain and causing a luxuriant growth 

 wherever it occurs. The usual morning 

 winds blow the fog against the exposed 

 sides of hills and mountains and up the 

 valleys of tributary streamlets, acting 

 on the soil so dampened like summer 

 rains. Where the fog is not borne the 

 country is dry. The natives often shave 

 off the hair from one side of their heads, 

 the effect presenting the same appear- 

 ance as the hills of their country. 



If one marches parallel with the rivers 

 and within the range of these fogs and 

 winds, he must pass through tremendous 

 forests. If he gets out of this range he 

 can march parallel with the same streams 

 but over open plains or hills and moun- 

 tains with only a sparse vegetation. 

 Samuel P. Verner. 



Department of Anthropology, 



Louisiana Purchase Exposition. 



