up the worms. The planting season is at its height about the 21st of June, and is generally over by the 10th of July. On some lands the seed is sown thinly, broadcast, and here, of course, no transplanting is necessary; this sowing takes place from the 15th to the 20th of May.

As the rice valleys near Kanagawa are intersected and surrounded by hills from which streams of water are continually flowing, it is not necessary to irrigate the fields by water-wheels, as in China. The streams are led, in the first place, into the fields near the foot of the hills, where the land is highest. Little ridges of earth or grassy embankments surround the different fields, each having a small space for the ingress and egress of the water. In this manner the hill stream first floods one field to the desired depth, then flows into the next at the point of egress, and so on, until the whole valley is irrigated. Natural or artificial watercourses, with channels lower than the fields, run through these rice valleys, and when the water is no longer required it is led into these, and carried out to the sea. By this means the water is kept always under the most perfect control; and in the autumn, when the ripening crops no longer require its aid, the little points of ingress are closed up, and the stream is allowed to flow in its natural channel.

During the remainder of the summer and autumn the paddy requires little more than attention to the irrigation, and now and then

278

ANIMALS FEW IN NUMBER.

CHAP. XVI.

loosening and stirring up the soil between the rows, and removing any weeds. It is ripe and is harvested in November.

Amongst other agricultural productions which grow in the valleys of Japan, may be mentioned, Arum esculentum, Scirpus tuberosus, and Juncus effusus, the latter being used in the manufacture of mats which are so common in the country. In the lakes and ponds large quantities of nelumbium-roots are grown, and are used as a vegetable and also in the production of a kind of arrow

root.

Such is a short account of Japanese farming as it presented itself to me in the autumn and winter of 1860, and spring and summer of 1861. The farms are small in extent when compared with those in western countries, and the homesteads also present a very different appearance to ours: They have no "lowing of oxen or bleating of sheep;' stray pack-horse, or a solitary ox, may sometimes be seen, but these are only used as beasts of burden. Pigs may sometimes be met with, but they are generally kept in the background out of view; pork, however, is abundant in the butchers' shops. Goats and sheep do not appear to be indigenous; some of the latter have been imported from China, but the experiment of acclimatising them has not yet succeeded. They invariably become diseased, and die off. Cows or oxen are little used in agriculture, and it is probable that the Japanese, like their neighbours

in China, have religious scruples as to using such animals for food.

It has been frequently repeated, by writers on Japan, that "hardly a foot of ground, to the very tops of the mountains, is left uncultivated." I have already shown in a previous chapter that such is not the case; that thousands of acres of fertile land are lying uncultivated, and covered with trees planted by nature, and brushwood, of little value. One naturally asks why these lands, which are capable of cultivation, should be allowed to lie in this unproductive condition. Is it because there is more than enough to supply the wants of a people that, for ages past, have been shut out from the rest of the world, and have therefore, while they have not contributed to the wants of others, been accustomed to rely entirely upon themselves for food and clothing?*

I cannot conclude this description of Japanese agriculture without noticing the remarkable connection which exists between the climate and the productions of the country, and how well they are suited to each other. The rainy season does not come on until the dry winter and spring crops are ripe, and ready to be harvested. When the rice

cuttings of the

planting begins, and when the sweet potato are being put out, the air becomes loaded with moisture, and the rain comes down in

The land in question is suitable for the dry crops only—not riceland. Rice in considerable quantities is brought from the Loo-choo islands to Nipon.

280

CROPS AND SEASONS.

CHAP. XVI.

torrents. Every hill stream is filled with water, and thus the means of irrigating the rice-fields are ready to the hands of the husbandman. Such excessive moisture would have been fatal to the wheat and barley and rape, but it gives life and vigour to the paddy and sweet potatoes, and is necessary for their health and luxuriance. The tea-plant, too, which, at this season, has had its first leaves plucked, is revived by the moist air and frequent showers, and is enabled to push forth with renewed vigour, and to yield fresh supplies. And when excessive moisture is no longer necessary to these summer products, the rain ceases, the sky becomes clear, and the air comparatively dry. Then the process of ripening begins, and a sunny autumn enables the husbandman to gather into his barns the fruits of his anxious labours.

CHAPTER XVII

Other productions of Japan-Silk, tea, &c. - Silk country - Value of silk Tea districts-Curious statements on tea cultivation Value of exports from Kanagawa in 1860-61-Means of increasing the supplies of silk and tea- Prospects on the opening of the new portsJapanese objections to the opening-The Tycoon's letter to the Queen Ministers' letter to Mr. Alcock-Their recommendations considered

Danger of opening Yedo at present - Remarks on the other ports - Trade probably overrated-Japanese merchants compared with Chinese - Prejudices against traders in Japan Foreign officials and these prejudices-War with Japan not improbable.

In addition to the agricultural productions which I have just described, there are many other articles in the country "pleasant to the sight and good for food," which are worthy of attention now that the Japanese have entered into the great family of nations. Perhaps no country in the world is more independent of other countries than Japan. She has, within herself, enough to supply all the wants and luxuries of life. The productions of the tropics, as well as those of temperate regions, are found in her fields and gathered into her barns. Wherever there are mountain ranges, coal, lead, iron, and copper are found, and not unfrequently the precious metals. Tea, silk, cotton, vegetable wax, and oils are produced in abundance all over the country. Ginseng and