FISHERIES. The Japanese depend on the farmer and the fisherman for their food-supplies. The former provides them with the indispensable rice, and the latter with the fish which invariably goes with it. The waters, both fresh and salt, teem with fish of every kind, from the whitebait to the bonito and the sturgeon. There is probably no country in the world where the markets are supplied with a greater abundance or variety. The mackerel family is perhaps the largest. both in species and catch: the tai, or golden bream. is perhaps the most prized. The salmon abounds, especially in Yezo. where there are many salmon curing establishments. The flounder, sole, turbot, trout. haddock. perch, pike, shad, and halibut are all plentiful, and the taking of them gives em ployment to tens of thousands of men. In 1899 the total catch of fresh fish was valued at $20. 023,911. There are several establishments in different parts of the country for the hatching and rearing of fish, each with a capacity of 30.000. Various kinds of fish oil are made. On the coasts of Yezo immense numbers of a kind of herring or sardine are caught, and the residue, after expressing the oil, is packed and shipped south to the other islands as manure. The value of the salt fish, fish-oil. seaweed, etc., in 1899 was nearly $16,000,000. The salt used in fish-curing and in Japan generally is made by evaporating sea-water and then leaching. and boiling. The area of these beds in 1899 was IS.7IS acres, and the value of the salt produced was 83.771.471.
Acnterurt-Rk. In Japan. as in China, the farming class has always held an honorable posi tion in the community, ranking next after the barons and their military retainers. who were the scholars of the country, and taking precedence of the mechanic and the merchant. Nearly half the population is directly engaged in agriculture.
The soil is largely the product of old shales, granite and trachytic eruptions decomposed by the action of the weather, and is not naturally fertile. It is only by the most careful manuring that it can be made productive. a result to which also the warmth and moisture of the climate con tribute largely. As already indicated, the greater portion of the country is occupied by mountains, largely covered with forests or tall, rank grass. leaving only certain narrow river stretches and plateau-, and more or less circumscribed plains for cultivation. It is therefore not surprising to learn from official statistics that the portion devoted to agriculture is only 12 per cent. of the total area of the country. The forests cover 20. 062 square miles. and the hara. or prairie. 2895 square miles. Rice (of which there are 217 vari eties) is the staple food of the people, and is therefore the most important crop. Rice land is the most valuable. 2.45 acres of rice or 'wet' land being equal to 6.37 acres of other arable land. For its cultivation irrigation is needed for flooding the fields, and even the hillside: and gul lies are terraced. the Ovate r bdng ingeniously con ducted from one terraced plat to the other. It
is sown in .1lay and reaped in November. and the average yield is said to be about 30 bushels an acre. 1900 2,828.349 chi, (O.929,455 acres) of rice land were under cultivation, and yielded 205.067fN1 bushels. Much of this is consumed in the manufacture of saki, the beverage of the coun try, the excise duty on which returns a large rev mine to the Government. In 1900 over J73.051,000 gallons were produced by 27,789 establishments. The crops next in importance are barley, rye, and wheat. the arca and the product of which in 1900 were as follows: barley, 1.579.096 acres, yielding 42.95L05fi bushels; rye. 1,697,S50 acres, yielding 37.170,Sti7 bushels • :Ind wheat, 1.147.747 acres, yielding 21,005,776 The other products are pulse. Millet. corn, buckwheat, potatoes of various kinds, all sort; of vegetables, and the soy bean, which is said to approach more nearly in its proximate chemical composition to animal food than any other known vegetable: one-tilth of its weight is fat and nearly I NV0-11 itilS nitrogenous matter. In I900, 73.t1t1.157 gallons of the con diment prepared from it were produced. In addi tion to this. tobacco (introduced by the Portu guese some time before 1612. for in that year its production and use were forbidden). cotton (known to tile Japanese ISO years before the Chinese). sugar, hemp. and indigo are grown, and great attention is given to silk and tea. In 1900 the land devoted to silk culture was 73(1.933 acres. The tea plantations in 1900 covered 120. 702 acres, produced 0,210.099 pounds of tea, and employed 56i.i47 households.
Since the abolition of the feudal system, the soil has been for the most part held by those who work it. the average holding being about an acre, and the average price per acre of rice land being P40 yen, and for other tilled Land 55. The land tax is per cent., and in 1901.02 it brought into the treasury $23.500,000, or more than three times the amount derived from cus toms. The agricultural implements in .Tapan are very simple.
Until recent years the rearing of flocks and herds had no place in Japanese agriculture, such cattle as Were found being used merely as beasts of burden. Milk, butter, and cheese were unknown. and beef was never eaten. This due partly to the influence of Buddhist teaching, which forbids the taking of life. and partly to the fact that the grasses of Japan, except perhaps in Vezo. are not adapted for grazing. Since the Restoration (see paragraph on History). how ever. much attention has been given by the Gov e•nment to the subject. Experimental farms have been established everywhere. under skilled foreign -.up( rintendence, including the breeding of horses and cattle and the rearing of sheep, etc. These efforts have been only partially sue eessf111, the soil proving unsuitable both for the grasses and the sheep. The use e f food is now extending, however, and dairying, has been introduced. In IS99 there were in the country 1,451.530 head of cattle and I.547,160 horses.