Edible Products. 



414 



[November, 1910. 



I left Hongkong on September 9th for 

 Tokyo and spent part of the 11th and 

 12th in the vicinity of Shanghai. Con- 

 siderable cotton is grown there and 

 the crop was just maturing. Harvest- 

 ing had already begun. There, as else- 

 where in China, the Feed is sown 

 broadcast in long, narrow beds. The 

 plants are allowed to stand from six 

 inches to a foot apart, and because of 

 crowding, rarely branch. The slender 

 single stems seldom bear more than six 

 bolls ; the bolls are small and the quality 

 of the lint inferior, the length aver- 

 aging about one-half inch. The yield 

 of the cotton I saw in several localities 

 could not exceed one hundred pounds 

 of lint per acre, more often not more 

 than that amount of seed cotton is 

 obtained. But land and labour are 

 cheap, so that a small profit remains 

 for the grower even with these small 

 yields. Inquiry as to the adaptability 

 of American methods of cultivation in 

 China invariably brought the reply that 

 the methods they employed are best 

 adapted to their conditions, although 

 in the Chinese agricultural encylopcedia, 

 referred to above, the methods we 

 practise are strongly recommended. It 

 was very apparent that no superior 

 varieties could be obtained in that 

 locality and there was nothing new to 

 be learned as to cultural methods. Be- 

 cause of the recent floods on the 

 Yangtse-kiang, and the poor showing 

 made at Shanghai, it was considered 

 not worth while to proceed to Hankow. 



In reaching Japan, I visited Kobe and 

 Osaka and presented letters from the 

 Japanese Consul-General in Honolulu, 

 to the Mitsui Bussau Kaisha, a large 

 importing and exporting house. The 

 Kobe house handles a large part of the 

 rice export trade, the trade with Hawaii 

 forming an important item in their 

 business. I obtained from them the 

 information that practically all of the 

 rice exported to Hawaii comes from 

 Yamaguchi province, where I later 

 visited. The Osaka branch bandies 

 largely cotton products. 



Mr. K. Kanabata, the manager, looked 

 over samples of our Chinese Upland and 

 Triumph cotton, pronounced them excep- 

 tionally fine, and considered them of a 

 higher grade than any they had yet 

 seen. The following prices were quoted 

 on cotton delivered at either Yokohama 

 or Kobe : — 



Chinese Upland as per sample, 38 yen 

 per picul, or about 14 cents per pound. 



Triumph, as per sample, 42 yen per 

 picul. or about 16 cents per pound. 



Their imported Texas Upland cotton 

 with a staple seven-eigths to one inch 

 long, approaches nearest to our cotton, 

 and for it they pay 32 or 40 yen per picul, 

 or 12 to 15 cents per lb. The cost of trans- 

 portation from Texas to Yokohama is 

 $1*35 gold per one hundred pounds. 



I was told that their cotton imports 

 amounted to approximately 50,000 tons 

 annually. Most of this comes from 

 India— a cheap inferior article. The 

 balance comes from China and the 

 United States, the cotton from the 

 latter country being much superior to 

 any of the others. A small quantity 

 of Egyptian cotton is imported, but 

 comparatively little long staple cotton 

 is used. Samples of Hawaiian cottons 

 will be gladly received and offers will be 

 quoted. It was easy to see that the 

 possibility of obtaining cotton from 

 Hawaii interests the Japanese importers, 

 especially since it has been definitely 

 settled that cotton cannot be grown 

 economically in Japan. Ten years ago, 

 it is reported, there were 50,000 acres or 

 more devoted to the cultivation of 

 cotton. At the present time there are 

 hardly more than 1000 acres, and this 

 cotton is largely for private use by the 

 peasantry. 



On my arrival at the Central Experi- 

 ment Station at Nishigahara, near 

 Tokyo, Director Kozai had a very com- 

 plete plan outlined to aid me in visiting 

 the principal rice-growine regions, and 

 especially the Kinai Branch Station at 

 Kashihara, near Osaka, where the work 

 is entirely given over to rice-breeding ; 

 the Kiushin Branch Station at Kuma- 

 moto, where the diseases and insect 

 pests of rice are studied, and the Pre- 

 fecture Demonstration Stations at Fu- 

 kuoka, Yamaguchi and Akashi. 



Before starting on this trip I spent 

 four days at the Central Station in order 

 to familiarise myself with their work 

 and methods. This institution, estab- 

 lished in 1890, and the outgrowth of 

 Japan's first attempts some forty years 

 ago to improve agriculture by scientific 

 methods, supervises the Experiment 

 Station work of the entire Empire. Its 

 various departments are well organised. 

 The staff consists of about thirty special- 

 ists and numerous assistants, numbers 

 of whom r eceived their technical train- 

 ing abroad. While its buildings are 

 unpretentious, the equipment is excellent 

 and the men and their work impress one 

 as exceptionally good. 



{To be continued.) 



