﻿Botany. 
  519 
  

  

  merely 
  to 
  remind 
  intending 
  tourists 
  that 
  no 
  obstacles 
  are 
  now 
  

   thrown 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  any 
  one 
  desirous 
  of 
  exploring 
  the 
  Empire. 
  

   In 
  fact, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  said, 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unusual 
  to 
  find 
  even 
  in 
  out 
  

   of 
  the 
  way 
  places, 
  people 
  who 
  are 
  anxious 
  to 
  give 
  any 
  assistance 
  

   in 
  their 
  power 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  collecting, 
  and 
  of 
  preparing 
  desira- 
  

   ble 
  specimens. 
  The 
  means 
  of 
  communication 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  much 
  

   improved 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  that 
  a 
  tourist 
  can 
  go 
  by 
  rail 
  from 
  Kobe, 
  

   skirting 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  Fuji, 
  to 
  Yokohama, 
  with 
  great 
  comfort 
  ; 
  or 
  

   he 
  can 
  reach 
  Nikko 
  and 
  the 
  northern 
  port 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  island 
  

   with 
  great 
  facility. 
  At 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  points 
  designated 
  in 
  the 
  pass- 
  

   port, 
  the 
  tourist 
  can 
  find 
  a 
  convenient 
  center 
  for 
  local 
  explora- 
  

   tion. 
  

  

  In 
  Yokohama 
  itself 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  Botanic 
  Garden, 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  

   good 
  opportunities 
  in 
  and 
  around 
  the 
  city 
  for 
  examining 
  Japa- 
  

   nese 
  horticulture. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  establishments 
  are 
  large 
  and 
  well 
  

   organized, 
  and 
  carry 
  a 
  very 
  heavy 
  stock, 
  while 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   smaller 
  ones 
  are 
  interesting 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  specialties. 
  Few 
  

   cultivated 
  plants 
  possess 
  more 
  interest 
  than 
  the 
  dwarfed 
  trees 
  

   found 
  in 
  the 
  larger 
  Japanese 
  Gardens 
  and 
  frequently 
  used 
  as 
  

   house 
  decorations. 
  The 
  extravagant 
  claims 
  made 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  

   age 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  cannot 
  of 
  course 
  be 
  established 
  by 
  satisfac- 
  

   tory 
  evidence, 
  or, 
  for 
  that 
  matter, 
  successfully 
  contested 
  by 
  

   skeptics. 
  In 
  no 
  case 
  of 
  a 
  potted 
  commercial 
  plant 
  did 
  I 
  hear 
  a 
  

   greater 
  antiquity 
  claimed 
  than 
  six 
  hundred 
  years 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  

   that 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  gardens 
  of 
  the 
  nobles, 
  plants 
  much 
  older 
  than 
  

   this 
  can 
  be 
  found. 
  Dwarfed 
  trees 
  are 
  pointed 
  out 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   larger 
  gardens 
  in 
  Tokio, 
  which 
  are 
  claimed 
  to 
  go 
  nearly 
  up 
  to 
  

   the 
  age 
  of 
  a 
  thousand 
  years. 
  After 
  one 
  has 
  carefully 
  examined 
  

   the 
  very 
  slight 
  growth 
  made 
  each 
  year 
  and 
  has 
  noted 
  the 
  extra- 
  

   ordinary 
  painstaking 
  and 
  skill 
  with 
  which 
  every 
  needless 
  bud 
  has 
  

   been 
  removed, 
  it 
  seems 
  almost 
  ungracious 
  to 
  refuse 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  

   unwritten 
  history. 
  The 
  methods 
  by 
  which 
  plants 
  are 
  dwarfed 
  

   has 
  been 
  clearly 
  explained 
  in 
  many 
  works, 
  and 
  generally 
  with 
  

   correctness, 
  but 
  a 
  brief 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  practice 
  in 
  commercial 
  

   gardens 
  may 
  be 
  useful. 
  

  

  First 
  of 
  all, 
  good 
  subjects 
  for 
  experimenting 
  are 
  selected, 
  and, 
  

   from 
  the 
  outset, 
  these 
  are 
  placed 
  under 
  favorable 
  conditions 
  for 
  

   slow 
  development. 
  All 
  buds 
  w 
  r 
  hich 
  can 
  be 
  spared 
  are 
  taken 
  off 
  

   with 
  great 
  care, 
  and 
  the 
  root-system 
  is 
  brought 
  within 
  as 
  narrow 
  

   compass 
  as 
  possible. 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  cases 
  which 
  were 
  shown 
  me 
  

   by 
  the 
  nurseryman 
  who 
  gave 
  me 
  instruction, 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  root- 
  

   surface 
  retained 
  w 
  r 
  as 
  ludicrously 
  inadequate 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  most 
  

   moderate 
  demands 
  of 
  a 
  healthy 
  plant. 
  And, 
  yet, 
  the 
  plants 
  in 
  

   question 
  were 
  sufficiently 
  vigorous 
  to 
  present 
  an 
  unfailing 
  crop 
  

   of 
  bright 
  foliage 
  every 
  year. 
  The 
  buds 
  are 
  reduced 
  in 
  number 
  

   beyond 
  what 
  one 
  might 
  regard 
  as 
  safe 
  limits 
  for 
  a 
  healthy 
  plant, 
  

   and 
  thus 
  the 
  dwarfed 
  plant, 
  crippled 
  above 
  and 
  below, 
  becomes 
  

   almost 
  a 
  pathological 
  specimen. 
  But 
  experience 
  shows 
  abund- 
  

  

  Am. 
  Jour. 
  Sci. 
  — 
  Third 
  Series, 
  Vol. 
  XLII, 
  No. 
  252. 
  — 
  December, 
  1891. 
  

   35 
  

  

  