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CULTIVATION OF WASABI. 7 91 
on in running water, but this is not absolutely correct, for near Nara, 
in the little village of Kiriyama, there are patches of wasabi which 
have been grown for many generations by the same family in a loca- 
tion not flooded with water. 
With Mr. K. Yendo of the Tokyo Botanic Gardens as interpreter, 
the writer visited, in June, 1902, one of the cultivators of wasabi and 
gleaned from him a number of facts about the culture of the vege- 
table. Mr. Kawakita, whose father and grandfather before him had 
grown wasabi, carried on its cultivation—as the growers of Fourche 
Maline do the horse-radish—only as a secondary crop. His patches 
of the plant were in a narrow valley, shaded by persimmon trees, 
where the soil was wet by underground springs, just such a place as 
one would expect to find ferns in were the ground not cultivated. (See 
Pl VAL fig. 2.) 
Owing to the ravages of a small caterpillar which had riddled the 
leaves with holes, the plants presented a sorry enough appearance, and 
the owner took no pride in showing them. The general appearance of 
the slopes of the little valley ‘was as if they had been covered with a 
coarse, broad-leaved dock like the Petasctes, which is common in parks 
in Europe. 
THE CULTIVATION OF WASABI. 
The method of culture practiced by Mr. Kawakita is a simple one 
enough, the chief point being the selection of a suitable location for 
the patch. Moisture is essential, and the borders of a mountain brook 
or a bit of ‘*springy” meadow in the hills would form a suitable situ- 
ation. Shade is likewise looked upon by this gardener as necessary, 
and that cast by the kaki or Japanese persimmon trees is preferred. 
The soil is a stiff clay, mixed with gravel, which retains moisture for 
a long time. 
In the month of June, when the 2-year-old plants which are ready 
for market are dug, the young suckers are carefully removed from the 
marketable roots and are planted out in the field. They are set in 
rows that are 13 feet apart and are put only 10 inches from each other 
in the rows. Weeding is done as found necessary, and in February 
or March the plants are hilled up to make them produce longer end 
larger roots for the market. 
Liquid manure and rape-seed cake are two of the principal fertilizers 
of the country, and these are applied judiciously in November and 
March in quantities varying according to the soil conditions. 
For two years the young wasabi plants are cared for in the field, at 
the end of which time their roots are large enough to be dug. Over 
2 tons of these roots are said to be harvested from an acre. 
The roots are prepared for market by washing off the dirt, cutting - 
back the tops, and binding into bundles. They keep for some time, 
