4X4 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  i,  1892. 
long,  and  cannot  be  used  in  that  condition  except  by 
hand,  and  then  must  be  prepared,  while  green  and 
fresh  by  hand.  We  want  no  hand  work,  and  cannot 
compete  with  foreign  labor  ia  that  way.  So  do  not 
be  deceived  by  gaudy  showings. 
Bales  of  it  have  been  made  and  shipped  from  the 
south,  twelve  to  twenty  years  ago,  and  found  un- 
saleable for  profit  to  this  country,  and  spoiled  for 
their  uses  in  Europe,  by  hand  or  otherwise.  We 
want  plain,  practical  working  material. 
It  must  be  thoroughly  and  economically  ungum- 
med,  and  then  it  is  as  free  and  pure  as  wool,  camel’s 
hair  or  alpaca,  and  cut  to  even  lengths,  or  separated 
into  two,  four  and  six-inch  lengths,  will  card  and 
spin  as  readily  by  machinery,  and  if  properly  done 
is  full  of  strength  and  gloss.  The  farmer,  except 
for  curiosity  or  satisfaction,  does  not  need  to  be  a 
manufacturing  expert  to  pass  on  the  machinery  or 
fibre.  He  simply,  necessarily  wants  to  be  satisfied 
that  he  can  put  into  bales  and  sell  the  raw  material, 
and  roots  maybe,  enough  for  several  years  to  pay  him 
for  planting,  raising  and  marketing,  as  well  or  better 
than  anything  else  he  can  raise,  and  that  he  will 
get  a better  market  for  his  other  products,  and  be 
able  to  buy  a superior  article  of  goods  for  less  money 
than  is  possible  without  it.  If  he  can  make  §180 
or  §240  per  acre  on  a large  number  of  acres  for 
several  or  many  years,  and  never  less  than  §50 
clear,  or  double  or  quadruple  his  market,  and  that 
at  home  instead  of  the  chances  abroad ; get  his  goods 
for  less  than  half  or  one-fourth  of  the  price  he  now 
pays  ; get  a genuine,  durable  article  that  will  wear- 
four  times  the  length  of  time  the  adulterated  article 
he  now  pays  a big  price  for,  builds  up  his  country, 
makes  his  property  valuable,  I think  it  is  worth  a little 
effort  and  faith,  even  if  there  is  a good  deal  of  work, 
and  may  be  some  few  mishaps  to  start  with. 
— Planters'  Monthly.  S.  H.  Slaught. 
THE  ORANGE  IN  JAPAN. 
[Report  by  Consul  Smithers  of  Osaka  and  Hiogo, 
prepared  from  information  obtained  from  the  Governor 
of  the  Hiogo  Ken  and  from  facts  furnished  by  Mr. 
H.  E.  Amoore,  an  English  gentleman  engaged  in 
exporting  young  trees  to  California.] 
VARIETIES. 
There  are  many  varieties  of  the  orange  found  in 
Japan,  of  which  the  most  profitable  are  the  Oon- 
shiu,  Hira-Mikan,  Koji,  Kinkan  and  Natsu-Mikan. 
In  the  prefecture  of  Osaka  the  location  of  the  orange 
trees  is  about  3 miles  distant  from  the  sea,  at  an 
elevation  of  2,016  feet,  and  at  Arita-Gun,  in  the 
Province  of  Kii,  they  are  located  from  half  a mile 
to  three  miles  from  the  sea,  at  an  elevation  of  610 
to  800  feet. 
A southerly  exposure  is  best  for  the  trees  and  the 
best  soil  a sandy  loam  with  gravel  about  3 feet  from 
the  surface.  Hilly  and  rolling  land  is  preferable 
for  the  “ Oonshiu  ” and  “Hira-Mikan”  varieties. 
The  minimum  temperature  is  36°  F. ; maximum 
95°  and  average  65°. 
THE  OONSHIU 
is  in  every  respect  the  best  variety.  The  tree,  or 
more  properly,  the  bush,  grows  to  the  height  of  10 
or  12  feet  and  covers  a space  22  or  23  feet  in  diameter, 
or  70  feet  in  circumference.  It  branches  close  to 
the  ground,  and,  not  being  pruned,  the  weight  of 
the  fruit  causes  the  lower  branches  to  lie  on  the 
ground  completely  covering  the  trunk.  They  are 
extremely  prolific,  and  as  the  fruit  is  not  thinned 
out  when  small,  it  does  not  often  attain  a size  of 
over  3 or  3^  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  majority 
not  over  2|.  Like  all  other  fruits,  they  are  picked 
by  the  Japanese  when  green  (unripe)  and  sour,  as 
early  as  the  1st  of  October,  and  are  gathered  and 
packed  by  December,  when  they  are  stored,  keeping 
so  well  as  to  be  found  in  the  market  as  late  as  the 
end  of  May.  The  fruit  of  the  Oonshiu  is  flattened 
at  the  poles,  the  rind  peels  off  very  easily  and  the 
segments  part  as  readily. 
When  the  orange  is  cut  horizontally,  the  juice  is 
sq  abundant  that  it  runs  over  freely.  They  are 
raetically  seedless ; out  of  200  only  2 were  found  to 
ave  seeds.  Their  flavor  is  very  pleasant — sweet, 
but  not  too  sweet — and  is  much  liked  by  foreigners 
in  Japan  and  China. 
THE  “HIRA”  MIKAN, 
sometimes  called  “Kishin"  Mikan,  or  “ Kino-Kuni” 
Mikan,  is  a smaller  fruit  than  the  Oonshiu,  and 
though  it  has  a few  seeds  it  is  desirable.  The  tree 
goes  to  the  height  of  30  feet,  is  an  immense  bearer 
and  is  a hardy  as  the  Oonshiu. 
THE  “ KIN-KAN,” 
known  in  China  as  the  “ Kumquat,”  or  golden  orange, 
grows  to  the  height  of  16  feet  and  is  very  prolific. 
There  are  two  kinds,  the  “Maru-mi”  (round  fruit) 
and  the  “Naga-mi,”  or  long  fruit.  It  contains  4 or 
5 seeds  and  is  palatable,  eaten  raw,  rind  and  all, 
but  its  chief  u=e  is  as  a preserve  in  syrup  or  crys- 
talized.  It  has  long  been  popular  both  in  Japan 
and  China,  when  treated  in  this  way. 
HOW  PROPAGATED. 
The  orange  tree  is  propagated  in  Japan  by  graft- 
ing on  sour  stock,  “ Citrus  Trifoliata,”  or  native 
wild  orange,  which  is  so  extremely  hardy  that  it 
does  not  appear  to  suffer  with  cold.  It  grows  to  the 
height  of  25  to  30  feet.  The  fruit  is  perfectly  round, 
somewhat  larger  than  a billiard  ball  and  full  of  seeds. 
The  stock  for  grafting  is  propagated  from  these 
seeds.  The  young  trees  are  transplanted  each  spring 
and  after  two  years  are  ready  for  grafting.  The 
leaf  is  trifoliate,  like  the  clover.  The  tree  is  very 
thorny  and  it  is  deciduous ; the  sap  falls  in  the 
writer  and  does  not  rise  until  late  in  the  spring, 
and  it  is  to  this  that  the  extreme  hardiness  of 
trees  grafted  on  this  stock  may  be  attributed.  The 
Japanese  do  not  appear  to  give  the  same  attention 
to  the  cultivation  of  orange  trees  as  in  California 
and  Florida,  allowing  vegetables  and  corn  to  grow 
between  the  trees,  which  are  planted  so  closely 
together  that  the  branches  often  interlook. 
The  irrigation  which  takes  place  only  in  the  dry 
season  is  done  by  pails  and  the  liquid  manure  is 
distributed  with  dippers  by  hand. 
There  are  no  nicely  laid  out  groves  as  in  the 
United  States,  but  irrigation  patches  and  many  trees 
are  planted  on  the  hillsides  in  terraces  the  same  way 
as  rice  and  other  products. 
INSECTS. 
No  attention  is  paid  to  insects  beyond  burning 
the  chrysalis  or  beetles.  The  “scale”  is  injurious 
in  some  parts  and  almost  unknown  in  others  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  smooth-skinned  oranges  from 
Arita. 
NURSERIES. 
The  principal  ones  are  about  12  miles  from  the 
sea  and  the  trees  are  protected  in  the  winter  till 
the  third  year  with  coarse  straw  matting  roughly 
tied  around,  the  idea  being  to  preserve  the  young 
growth  and  not  because  they  fear  injury  to  the 
matured  branches.  As  the  Japanese  see  no  beauty 
in  an  upright  tree,  but  rather  prefer  them  crooked 
or  dwarfed,  the  young  trees  are  not  staked  or  trained. 
One  reason  for  prefering  the  low  tree  is  that  they 
can  pick  the  fruit  without  ladders,  and  another  is  that 
the  branches  keep  the  ground  cool  and  more  moist 
than  if  exposed  to  the  sun. 
As  the  tree  is  not  a rapid  grower,  although  it 
produces  fruit  at  an  early  stage,  it  would  not  be 
a difficult  or  expensive  thing  to  cover  them  with 
a light  framework  and  awning  during  the  cold 
weather  in  parts  of  the  United  States  where  the 
climate  is  intemperate  rather  than  to  be  deprived 
of  so  valuable  and  ornamental  a tree. 
THE  MARKET  PRICE  OF  THE  OONSHIU. 
Fruit  in  Japan  is  from  2 to  5 silver  yen  per  1,000 
according  to  size  and  quality,  and  considerable 
shipments  are  made  to  San  Francisco,  but,  owing 
to  their  being  packed  in  air  tight  boxes  often  arrive 
in  bad  condition. —Agricultural  Department,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  Consular  report,  December,  1890.  No.  703- 
— Florida  Dispatch , 
