THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October t, 1887. 
Light and warmth operate alike on both sides of 
the leaf ; each being suspended in a line with the axis 
of the tree, giving facility for the remarkable and 
interesting movement of the petiole or leaf stalk, which 
is continuous in its action uuder the warm currents 
of the air, or the direct rays of the sun keeping one 
side or the other of the leaf's surface to face the 
sun or the warm air current, and so establishing per- 
petual leaf operation. Now it is by the natural forces 
of the tree and the leaf action acting in unison that 
the watery and odorous bodies are continually set 
free in the air, and in such minute and diffusive 
atoms that they may be expressed as the fragrant 
breath of the tree, requiring as it does thousands of 
its compound particles to form a single drop. Under 
such circumstauces, these odorous bodies speedily 
change their molecular condition, and supply to the 
atmosphere an extra amount of active oxygen; it is 
this unceasing health factor throughout Australia 
which makes it on the whole the finest climate in 
the world. At the conclusion of the lecture, Mr. 
Bosisto intimated that there would be a magic-lantern 
entertainment, during which Victorian views would be 
thrown upon the screen. 
The Hon. W. "Wilson said Mr. Bosisto's modesty had 
prevented him referring to eucalyptus oil. He therefore 
took the liberty of telling the audience that to Mr. 
Bosisto was due the credit of having introduced the most 
valuable of oils. Eucalyptus oil, he said, was an oil 
which seemed to cure everything, and was universally 
used in Victoria, Mr. Bosisto in reply, showed the im- 
portance of jthe eucalyptuts oil industry, and stated that 
his firm operate upon sixty tons of leaves per week, and 
he considered its introduction into the Pharmacopoeia 
as the greatest compliment that had been paid to him 
for his work on the subject. — Chemist and Druggist. 
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THE VINE IN JAPAN. 
According to accounts furnished by Mr. Fukuwa 
Yaito, Director of the Vineyards at Harima, and 
from official Reports of the Minister of Agriculture 
and Commerce, translated from the Japanese by Mr. 
J. Dautremer, Interpreter to the French Legation in 
Japan, the vine is found nearly everywhere in Japan, 
but it is cultivated more especially in the proviuce, 
or rather district, of Kofu in the centre ofthecouu- 
try. There is a tradition that 700 years ago, in the 
reign of the Emperor Gotoba, a.d. 1185, it was 
noticed by two peasants on the mouutains of Kofu, 
near the village of Kami-iwasaki. The peasants 
whose names are preserved, transported this wild 
vine to their garden at Zio-sei-zi, and after care- 
fully tending it and endeavouring to propagate it, 
they succeeded so far that in 1193 they became 
possessed of thirteen plants. They proceeded to 
develope the culture, and in a few years were able 
to lay out plantations, the fruits of which became 
celebrated, and the reputation of the Kofu grape 
still stands high, the fruit being greatly esteemed. 
There are two species of vine ; the vitis vinifcra 
and the vitis labraska; but the former only is 
cultivated. Its fruit is much esteemed. The latter, 
superior to that found in America, is inferior, however, 
to the vitis vinifera. It is found in the mountains, 
where it 6hoots out like grass. It abounds in the 
province of Echiu, Kaga, Noto, Hida, Mutsu, Uzeu, 
Ugo and in Hokkaido. In Echiu and Kaga, as well 
as in Hokkaido, several varieties of the wild vine are 
found — as many as twelve ; some with stems indicating 
a growth of a dozen years. On the mountains of 
Kaga the author of this paper met with a vine the 
stem of which measured lm. 80cm. in circumference, 
and covering a hectare of land, having produced, morever, 
1 ,200 kilogrammes of fruit. 
Such dimensions are not rare; many examples are 
found in the province of Idzu. Specimens of this 
size are not found in Europe; but at Oran and at 
Kasba in Algeria, vines with a diameter 0.24cm. and 
area 120m. and fruit 1,000 kilogrammes occur. This 
is looked upon as prodigious. I Jufortunately, the 
Japaucso have overlooked the value of this plant, and 
have left it to run wild, without special care being 
bestowed upon it. It is only in quite recent times 
that they have begun to engage themselves on its 
cultivation and to take an interest in the fruits. 
The V, vinifera in Japan produces three sorts of 
grapes ; the red, like the Ch'iblis ; the black like the 
Frankenihal , and the white, like the lliesling. They 
are all fouud in Kofu. The black grape grown near 
Kyoto is the best in Japan. 
Formerly the grape was only cultivated for eating . 
The plant in its wild state shows great vitality, and 
the yield is considerable ; but latterly the Japanese 
have grafted and transplanted it and have found that 
it is capable of furnishing a good quality of wine-grape. 
In the cultivation of the vine two methods are iu vogue, 
as in Europe, viz: (1) By slips inserted into the 
ground ; (2) by allowing the vine to propagate itself 
by its branches taking root. Tnis latter is the way 
in which the vine-dressers of France renew their 
plantations. The Japanese prefer for the vine sloping 
lands — stony or sandy. After digging a ditch lm. 20cm. 
deep and about 2 metres wide, and having made the 
channels so that the water may flow freely, they fill 
the ditch with manure and earth and proceed to plant. 
This is usually done in autumn, but in Hokkaido, 
where the climate is cold, the spring is preferred. For 
manure they use bouedust, rice-husks, the refuse of 
brewers, the residuum of oil manufacture, and finally 
closet-manure. But these manures have each their 
specific properties. The bone-dust, the rice-husks, and 
the sake refuse give to the grape a certain sweetness, 
and increase its size; the other manures give force 
to the plauts and make the bunches more compact 
and complete. It is therefore necessary to employ a 
mixture to obtain good results. The pruning is done 
in the autumn ; the stem is left lm. 80cm. high, so 
that below the section two or three branches or 
shoots may be left for the coming spring. 
First attempt at wine-making, the first idea of the 
Japanese was to cultivate the vine in order to eat the 
fruit ; yet we are told that the people of Kofu used 
the grape to make a liqueur, probably a sort of wine ; 
for what purpose we do not know, for they certainly 
did not drink it. It was not until 1875 that an inhabit- 
ant of Kofu resolved to make wine of the grape. But 
he neither knew the ancient nor the modern processes; 
the grapes which he used were not sufficiently ripe, 
and he did not succeed. In 1876, a certain person 
named Oto Matsugoro, having returned from California, 
where he had studied wine making, again made an 
attempt in Kofu, and succeeded in producing a wine 
superior to that of his predecessor. Now the same 
vineyard produces 200 hect. of white wine, and as 
much alcohol. I have tasted several kinds of Kofu 
wine, and I declare that it was detestable. At the 
present time in Hokkaido and in tbe provinces of 
Harima and Owari, some thousands of hectolitres of 
wine have been made, and yet the plants are only 
5 or 6 years old and the bunches are naturally not 
large. In two or three years no doubt twenty t:> 
thirty thousand hectolitres will be produced, but it is 
doubtful whether the wine will be drinkable here for 
a long time. The produce is mixed by Japanese mer- 
chants with European wines and sometimes this mix- 
ture is sold to the Japanese as pure Bordeaux. 
European and American Vines Imported into 
Japan. — The first European vine transplanted into 
Japan was given to the SkoyiLii by the Emperor Napoleon 
III. in 1868 ; afterwards came the Isabella and the Con- 
cord from America. They then imported the Franken- 
thal from Austria, as well as other vines from France ; at 
last California furnished a considerable number of plants. 
We may say that there are altogether some 200 sorts 
in Japan. The attempts to cultivate them had generally 
been made in Tokyo, at the Botanic Garden at Mita ; 
but none have succeeded. For the European vine the 
soil of Tokyo is too damp; although the vine grows 
well there it produces no fruit; the American vine 
only succeeds in Tokyo; but the bunches although 
superb, are not of the first quality ; they are certainly 
much inferior to Japanese grapes. Thus at present 
it is found that the proper way is to introduce vine- 
stocks from Europe, and those only which produce wall. 
