138 



THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN—III. 



under this treatment, many of them being thirty to forty 

 years old, and they bear large quantities of fruit. They 

 appear not to suffer from the many diseases that attack 

 the fruit in America. Mildew and rot are rare. 



The grapes are gathered when they begin to color, 

 packed in baskets, and sent off to the city markets, chiefly 

 to Tokio, where they sell on the average for between five 

 and ten cents per pound. The clusters of the Koshiu 

 grape are large, often ten inches to a foot in length, and 

 correspondingly heavy. The berries on vigorous vines 

 are medium to large, varying somewhat in shape from 

 round to slightly oblong on different vines, and when fully 

 ripe they are of a beautiful brownish-red color. 



The Minori-btido , or green variety, is comparatively 

 rare; the red one being by far the most common. There 

 is, however, scarcely any difference between them as re- 

 gards quality and flavor; both are very sweet, thin-skinned 

 and the pulp melting. 



If these grapes will thrive in the United States as they 

 do in Japan, a point which has yet to be settled by expe- 

 rience, it will be an invaluable boon to American viticul- 

 turists. 



Many of the American varieties have been introduced 

 into Japan, but they are not cultivated except occasionally 

 here and there near the open ports. I have seen many 

 of our common varieties in Tokio, among them the Con- 

 cord, Hartford Prolific, Lydia, Martha, Agawam, etc. 

 Some European varieties may also be found, chiefly 

 French, but these too are rare. None of them can, in 

 fact, compete with the native variety, the Koshiu-budo ; 

 nor are the vines so healthy. In one vineyard in Tokio, 

 which fell under my observation, I found that the intro- 

 duced vines were killed by phylloxera one after another, 

 while the native vines in the same vineyard did not at all 

 suffer from the attacks of this insect. 



The genus vitis is represented in Japan by several wild 

 species. Only one of them, however, has any economic 

 value, and that is undoubtedly identical with the common 

 fox grape of this country, Vilis Labriisca, L. {V. 1 Inin- 

 bergii, S. & Z. ; Jap., Yawa-biido , Gaulbii.) It has, at 

 least, all the characteristics of our species. It is very 

 abundant in the woods and underbrush in the mountains, 

 particularly at elevations of between 2,000 and 4,000 feet. 

 I have seen it literally covering the bushes and trees in 

 some places over large areas, especially along the moun- 

 tain streams. One such place that I call to mind is 

 at Usui Toge (South Pass) mountains, in the provinces of 

 Shinshiu and Joshiu, near the famous active volcano 

 Asama-Yama, where in the summer of 1887 the wild 

 grapes were exceedingly abundant. And during the fol- 

 lowing summer (1888) I found them equally abundant in 

 the low mountains in Fukushima Prefecture, north of the 

 city of Wakamatsu, a town that is almost world-renowned 

 for its lacquer work and trade in the lacquer industry. Nor 

 were the vines confined to small patches here and there. 

 They were scattered quite generally over the mountains. 

 I had good opportunity to observe this in 1888, when in 

 company with an American tourist and a guide, we spent 

 a month in rambling over some hundreds of miles of this 

 region. If the Japanese have attempted to improve this 



species by culture, as has been so largely and successfully 

 done in this country, I have failed to learn of the fact. 

 Certainly all the grapes of the labrusca class which they 

 have are well known American varieties, and their cul- 

 ture is very limited. 



The people who live in regions where these wild grapes 

 are abundant gather them when they begin to turn dark, 

 and along with their many vegetables and their rice use 

 them as an article of food. They apparently know noth- 

 ing of the art of converting them into jelly and preserves. 



There is one other species of the grape with edible fruit 

 which may be found on the plains along the streams and 

 in the lowlands. I do not know what it is ; possibly it has 

 not been described. It is a very small, slender vine, only 

 three to six feet tall and often trailing through the grass, 

 and the vines apparently die back nearly or quite to the 

 ground every year. It has small, very compact clusters 

 of black grapes, scarcely as large as peas, and these nearly 

 all seed. They have no pulp, but they yield a pleasant 

 vinous juice that is very refreshing, though also slightly 

 astringent. Their food value is but small, but they are 

 nevertheless often gathered and eaten, particularly by 

 children, who relish them much. 



They have a way of preserving their grapes for use 

 along during the winter which deserves to be mentioned. 

 They use for that purpose a very large earthenware jar, 

 which is a common household utensil and is used also to 

 hold water and for various other purposes. Some of 

 these jars are three and a-half to four feet high, about 

 two feet wide above and tapering to a narrow bottom. 

 They are glazed on the inside and can thus be made per- 

 fectly air-tight when closed above. Now. they fasten 

 sticks crosswise in these jars and suspend the clusters of 

 grapes from them, one tier above another till the jar is 

 full. It is then closely sealed with oiled paper, a wooden 

 lid is put on and the jar is buried in the ground in a 

 standing position. This insures uniformity both in the 

 moisture of the air about the grapes and in the tempera- 

 ture. The Koshiu grape is said to keep all winter when 

 put away in this manner and left undisturbed. I cannot 

 vouch for this statement, but it is certain that I have 

 bought the Red Koshiu grape in Tokio as late as the be- 

 ginning of February. Might it not be worth while for 

 somebody to try this or a similar method of keeping 

 grapes here ? I venture the opinion that its success is 

 due mainly to the uniformly cool temperature which is 

 insured by burying them in the ground. 



Stauntoni.^ hexaphvll.-\, Decaisne [Rajaiiin hexa- 

 pliylln, Thunb.) Japanese Miihc, Tokiwa-akebi . (Figs. 

 2 and 3.) 



This remarkably beautiful vine is, I believe, as yet un- 

 known in America, and when it shall become generally 

 known here it cannot fail to be appreciated by everybody 

 and will be an acquisition of great value. The accom- 

 panying illustrations (Figs. 2 and 3, pages 139 and 141), 

 drawn from life, natural size, give a good idea of the leaf, 

 the flower and the fruit. It is a woody vine which climbs 

 by twining. It grows with much vigor, branches and 

 spreads considerably, and attains a height of some forty 

 feet or more. It is indigenous to the lower mountains of 



