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dwarfing  of  the  whole  plant.  It  is  associated  with  a small  hop- 
per which  is  regarded  as  the  source  of . infection,  although  the 
nature  of  the  disease  is  little  understood.  The  usual  mode  of 
remedy  is  to  treat  the  paddy  fields  with  petroleum  and  to  brush 
off  the  insects  from  the  surface.  Smut  is  prevalent  in  some 
regions. 
GENERAL. 
Throughout  Japan  a general  dearth  of  domestic  animals  is 
noticeable,  although  considerable  advance  is  being  made  in  the 
practice  of  modern  dairying.  One  agricultural  station  has  a 
special  apiary  department  and  is  introducing  better  methods  in 
this  industry. 
RICE  EXPERIMENT  FIELDS 
The  chief  factors  lying  at  the  basis  of  the  success  of  the 
Japanese  rice  industry  are  believed  to  be  the  system  of  fertiliza- 
tion, especially  as  regards  green  manuring,  and  a thorough  un- 
derstanding of  plant  rotation:  Rice  hay  is  not  known  in  Japan, 
but  rice  straw  is  valued  for  the  manufacture  of  rice-bags,  mats, 
ropes  and  for  thatching  purposes.  It  occasioned  some  surprise 
to  learn  that  no  rice  bran  is  fed  to  live  stock,  but  that  all  this 
enormous  by-product  is  used  for  fertilizing.  B/y  the  operation  of 
milling  a small  quantity  of  rock  powder,  detrimental  to  cattle,  is 
left,  which  sufficiently  accounts  for  its  non-use  for  feeding  pur- 
poses. 
GENERAL  RESULTS. 
The  visit  to  China  and  Japan  has  resulted  in  securing  a quan- 
tity of  rice  and  other  plant  seed,  some  of  which  promise  to  be 
