Edible Products. 



318 



[April, 1910. 



It may thereafter be polished at an 

 additional expense, but without this 

 additional polishing process it is ready- 

 tor the Japanese consumers at from $8 

 to $9 per koku of five bushels or 320 

 pounds, as quoted during January, 1903, 

 Out of the 100 bushels referred to up- 

 wards of 40 bushels of "white" rice of 

 an excellent quality are obtained. The 

 bushel measure is not used, however, 

 but in measuring unhusked rice the 

 native who can deftly pile on the 

 greatest heaping measure is the man 

 sought after by the purchaser. 



Inasmuch as very little "white" rice 

 is exported the bulk of the exports con- 

 sists of " brown " rice which is to be 

 further cleaned in Japan, and eventually 

 some of the choice Korean rice when 

 highly polished finds its way to the 

 Loudon market. The best Korean rice 

 is noted for its superior qualities and 

 commands exceptionally high prices. 



Korean rice culture is carried on al- 

 most wholly by hand, and it is not 

 probable that hand methods used in the 

 cultivation of rice in Korea will ever 

 make way for the American seeder, self- 

 binding harvester, or steam thrasher. 

 The Korean farms are all small and the 

 present native product is higher in 

 yield to the acreage than is the American 

 rice. The cheap labour of Korea also 

 permits of methods which the labour 

 conditions in America would render 

 prohibitive. 



Cost of Cleaning Rice— Prices, 

 Cleaned and Uncleaned. 



The present prices for cleaning rice in 

 Korea vary since the machine mills 

 charge different prices, according to the 

 quality and in regard to the disposition 

 of the bran, broken rice, etc., but it may 

 be said that from 20 to 25 cents gold 

 per koku of 5 bushels is charged at Seoul 

 for cleaning rice sufficiently for the 

 native Korean market. Additional 

 cleauing and polishing nearly double the 

 cost. 



During the various processes of clean- 

 ing bulk rice shrinks from 20 to 50 per 

 cent. The natives use blocks of wood, 

 in which grooves have been cut, and 

 by a grinding process the outer husk 

 is torn from the rice. If the native 

 wishes to continue the cleaning pro- 

 cess a mortar and pestle are used. It 

 is estimated that 50 per cent, of 

 the Korean " white " rice is cleaned in 

 this way. Korean farmers and their 

 families consider their labour of 

 little or no value in cleaning their rice 

 crop during the three months when the 

 country is frozen up. 



The price of uncleaned rice in Korea 

 varies every day according to the 

 demand for the many different grades 

 but usually ranges between 90 cents and 

 $1 gold per bushel. Best machine-cleaned 

 rice retails in Ko/ea (January, 1903), at 

 about $1-80 gold per bushel, while that 

 cleaned for Korean use sells at about 

 $1"35 gold per bushel. Korean " white" 

 rice suitable for sale in Japan sells at 

 from $1-60 to 81 -80 gold per bushel ; but 

 to this must be added transportation 

 charges and a Japanese import duty of 

 5 per cent. Rice can be delivered in 

 Manchuria, suitable for that market, at 

 from $1-65 to $1-80 gold per bushel. 



Rice Crop Controls Korea's Trade. 



Although the Korean crop for 1907 

 was a good one, the peculiar internal 

 conditions affecting the peninsula have 

 delayed the delivery of rice from the 

 farms, and in consequence the entire 

 Korean commerce has been somewhat 

 disturbed. Thus, in January, 1908, a bag 

 of rice valued at $2'25 at a seaport town 

 was selling for 10 per cent, of that price 

 in the interior. Probably in a very few 

 sections of the Occident is the econo- 

 mical condition of affairs so affected by 

 the supply and demand of a foodstuff as 

 in Korea by the annual rice crop. 



Influence of Prices in Japan. 

 The Korean farmer usually turns over 

 half of the crop to the landlord, and in 

 consequence of the non-delivery of a 

 portion of last year's rice the landed 

 class in the peninsula has been affected 

 as well as the poorer people. The land- 

 lord pays the taxes in sections where 

 land is in little demand, but in the pro- 

 vinces where the population creates a 

 greater demand for land, the tenant 

 usually pays the taxes. The unhusked 

 rice in either case is usually divided 

 evenly between the landlord and tenant, 

 each party paying lor the further clean- 

 ing and transportation. 



Value of Annual Production. 

 Although the rice crop exerts a power- 

 ful influence over the business of Korea, 

 complete statistical data are not avail- 

 able as to acreage, yield, or yearly pro- 

 duction, and therefore the following 

 approximate statistics are of both a 

 novel and interesting nature. The recent 

 census of Korea, taken under Japanese 

 police supervision, places the population 

 of the country at 9,781,670. With these 

 figures as a basis, they baing considered 

 accurate for all practical purposes, it is 

 possible to ascertain the approximate 

 yearly rice production of the peninsula, 

 Inquiries made among Japanese author- 

 ities have resulted in data a9 to the 



