The Foundations of Japan Part 42

Thirty _cho_. Income, 1,979 yen; _net return, 61 yen_. (Mixed farming; 632 yen paid for labour.)

Model _5-cho_ farm without rice. Made 604 yen, and 107 yen _net return_, farm capital being 1,487 yen. (208 yen allowed for labour, interest 128 yen, amortisation 27 yen, and taxes 13 yen.)

Milk farmer, 12 _cho_ and 90 cattle. Income, 12,280 yen; _net return of 3,641 yen_.

2,120 _cho_ (1,235 forest, 402 pasture, 110 artificial gra.s.s and 42 crops; 111 cattle). Income, 66,205 yen; _net return, 1,011 yen_. (Milk and meat farming.)

Average income and expenditure of 200 tenants of University land whose budgets Professor Morimoto (see Chapter x.x.xIV) investigated:

yen Crops 451.66 Wages earned 61.33 Horses 20.09 Poultry and eggs .96 Pigs .85 Manure (animal, 35 _kwan_; human, 14 _koku_) 24.50 Other income 29.64 ------ 589.03 yen Cultivation, etc. 206.32 Cost of living 303.33 ------ 509.65 ------ Profit 79.38 ======

The returns of capital yielded the following averages:

yen Tenant right in respect of 5-16 _cho_ 750.82 Buildings (32.2 _tsubo_) 195.95 Clothing 162.82 Horse (average 1.23) 108.48 Furniture 58.47 Implements 51.23 Poultry (average 2.58) 1.15 Pigs (average .12) .87 -------- Total 1,329.79 ========

VALUE OF NEW PADDY [XIV]. More delicious rice could be got, I was told, from well-fertilised barren land than from naturally fertile land. The first year the new paddy yielded per _tan_ an average of 1.2 _koku_, the second 1.6, the third 2, and this fourth year the yield would have been 2.3 had it not been for damage by storm.

AREAS AND CROPS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF RICE [XV]. In 1919 there was grown of paddy rice 2,984,750 _cho_ (2,729,639 ordinary, 255,111 glutinous) and of upland rice 141,365 _cho_. Total, 3,126,115 _cho_.

The yield (husked, uncleaned) was of paddy 61,343,403 _koku_ (ordinary, 56,438,005; glutinous, 4,905,398); of upland, 1,839,312.

Total, 63,182,715 _koku_; value, 2,352,145,519 yen.

In 1877 the area is reputed to have been 1,940,000 _cho_ with a yield of 24,450,000 _koku_ and in 1882 2,580,000 _cho_ with a yield of 30,692,000 _koku_. The average of the five years 1910-14 was 3,033,000 _cho_ with a yield of 57,006,000 _koku_; of the five years 1915-19, 3,081,867 _cho_ with a yield of 94,817,431 _koku_.

In a prefecture in south-western j.a.pan I found that 2 _koku_ 5 _to_ (or 2-1/2 _koku_, there being 10 _to_ in a _koku_) per _tan_ was common and that from 3 _koku_ to 3 _koku_ 5 _to_ was reached. "A good yield for 1 _tan_," says an eminent authority, "is 3 _koku_, or on the best fields even 4 _koku_." The average yield in _koku_ per _tan_ for the whole country has been (paddy-field rice only): 1882, 1.19; 1894-8, 1.38; 1899-1903, 1.44; 1904-8, 1.57; 1909-13, 1.63; 1914-18, 1.86; 1919, 1.99; 1920, 2.05 (ordinary, 2.06; glutinous, 1.92). Upland rice in 1920, 1.30 as against 1.02 in 1909. All these figures are for husked, uncleaned rice.

BARLEY AND WHEAT CROPS [XVI]. The following table (average of five years, 1913-17) shows the yields per _tan_ of the two sorts of barley and of wheat and the average yield all three together in comparison with the rice yield (all quant.i.ties husked):

_go_ _go_ Barley 1,672 All three together 1,307 Naked barley 1,172 Rice 1,808 Wheat 1,073

Naked barley is grown as an upland crop, as are ordinary barley and wheat; but it is more largely grown as a second crop in paddies than either barley or wheat. The barleys are chiefly used for human food with or without rice. Wheat is eaten in macaroni, sweetstuffs and bread. It is also used in considerable quant.i.ties in the manufacture of soy, the chief ingredient of which is beans. There was imported in the year 1920 wheat to the value of 28-1/2 million yen, and flour to the value of 3-1/4 million yen. Macaroni is largely made of buckwheat as well as of wheat. The other grain crop is millet, which is eaten by the poorest farmers. In 1918, as against 60 million _koku_ of rice, there were grown 5 million _koku_ of beans and peas. The crops of barley were 17 million, of wheat 6 million, of millet 3-1/4 million, and of buckwheat 3/4 million. More than a million _kwan_ of sweet potatoes were produced and nearly half a million of "Irish" potatoes.

(The figures for barley and wheat are for 1919.)

COST AND PRICE OF RICE [XVII]. The annual figures (from Aichi) for the years 1894 to 1915 (page 384) show the cost of producing a _tan_ of rice, that is the summer crop. The amounts per _tan_ are calculated on the basis of the expenses of a tenant who is cropping 8 _tan_. The totals for the winter crop are also given. The figures which appear on the opposite page were described to me by the farmer concerned as "compiled on the basis of investigations by the chairman of the village agricultural a.s.sociation and by its managers and still further proved and quite trustworthy." It will be seen that the value of the winter crop is low; a secondary employment is usually a better thing for the farmer. In one or two places there is a sen or so difference in the additions which may have been made by the transcriber from the j.a.panese original. The difference in amounts of rent is due to difference in fields rented and also to reduction allowed owing to bad crops. The difference in the income from crops is usually due to destruction by hail or wind.

COST AND PRICE OF RICE (see page 383)

Year Yield in _koku_ Reserved for Rent and Seeds (_koku_) Market Price per _koku_ (yen) Gross Income including Straw and Chaff, not usually sold (yen) Manures (yen) Taxes and Amortisation of Implements (sen) Total Outlay (yen) Net Income from Summer Crop of Rice (yen) Days of Labour on Summer Crop of Rice Net Income from Winter Crop (?Barley) Total Net Income from both Crops.

------ ------ ------ ------- ------- ----- ---- ------ ------- ------ ------- ------- 1894 2.23 1.05 7.66 9.81 2 21 2.21 7.60 2.5 2.51 10.11 1895 2.13 1.05 8.09 8.71 2 21 2.26 6.45 21.5 2.48 8.92 1896 1.53 .80 8.67 6.89 2.4 22 2.58 4.31 21.5 3.38 7.69 1897 1.88 1.05 11.53 10.63 2.9 23 3.13 7.50 21.5 5.22 12.72 1898 2.39 1.05 14.62 21.13 3.2 25 3.40 17.73 21.5 5.50 23.23 1899 1.75 .88 12.05 11.48 3.8 30 4.11 7.37 21 2.22 9.99 1900 2.14 1.05 11.11 13.24 4.1 31 4.40 8.84 21 4.22 13.06 1901 2.10 1.05 10.53 12.06 4 32 4.35 7.71 21 3.87 11.58 1902 1.86 .99 12.99 12.40 3.1 38 3.51 8.89 21 4.11 13 1903 2.06 1.04 12.50 13.85 3.4 49 3.79 10.05 21 6 16.85 1904 2.24 1.03 12.20 16 2.6 53 3.11 9.89 21 6.06 15.95 1905 1.77 .99 13.42 11.60 2.1 46 2.55 9.05 21 6.67 15.71 1906 1.96 1.05 15.15 15 09 4 56 4.61 10.49 21 5.79 16.27 1907 1.98 1.14 16.39 16.69 4.4 42 4.83 11.84 21 8.60 20.43 1908 2.21 1.14 14.29 16.80 5.1 42 5.54 11.26 21 10.79 22.05 1909 2.27 1.14 11.63 14.39 3.7 99 4.64 9.75 21 11.49 21.24 1910 2.02 1.14 14.09 13.37 4.5 80 5.27 8.51 21 12.41 20.91 1911 2.22 1.14 16.67 19.72 4.4 78 5.13 14.59 21 13.49 28.08 1912 2.02 .90 21.74 26.48 5.9 75 6.60 19.88 21.5 3.73 23.6 1913 2.31 1.14 20.83 24.67 6.5 79 7.30 17.37 21.5 12.62 30 1914 2.48 1.14 12.50 18.29 5.8 78 6.53 11.75 21.5 11.54 23.30 1915 2.36 1.20 11.77 14.91 5.8 82 6.67 8.24 21.5 9.67 18.91

This table may be supplemented by the following prices for (unpolished) rice in Tokyo: 1916, 13 yen 76 sen; 1917, 19 yen 84 sen; 1918, 32 yen 75 sen; 1919, 45 yen 99 sen.

In the spring of 1921 the League for the Prevention of Sales of Rice at a Sacrifice proposed that rice should not be sold under 35 yen per _koku_. The price pa.s.sed the figure of 35 yen in July 1918. At the time the League's proposals were made the Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as stating that the cost of producing rice "is now 40 yen per _koku_." The accuracy of the figures on which the Ministry's estimates are made is frequently called in question.

CULTIVATED AREA IN j.a.pAN AND GREAT BRITAIN [XVIII]. In 1919 there were in Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) 15,808,000 acres of arable, 15,910,000 of pasture and 13,647,000 of grazing, or a total of 45,365,000 acres out of a total area of 56,990,000 acres. In j.a.pan there were 15,044,202 acres of paddy and of cultivated upland, 46,958,000 acres of forest and 8,773,000 acres of waste; total 70,775,000, out of 90,880,000 acres.

The area of the United Kingdom without Ireland is 56,990,080 acres; that of j.a.pan Proper, 75,988,378 acres. The population of the United Kingdom without Ireland (in 1911) was 41,126,000, and of j.a.pan Proper (in 1911) 51,435,000. (See also Appendix x.x.x.)

HUMAN LABOUR _v_. CATTLE POWER [XIX]. The Department of Agriculture stated in 1921 that "from 200 to 300, sometimes more than 500 days'

labour [of one man] are required to grow a _cho_ of rice." The area of paddy which is ploughed by horse or cattle power was 61.89 per cent.

The area of upland so cultivated was only 38.97 per cent. The "average year's work of the ordinary adult farmer" was put at 200 days. The Department estimated an average man's day's work (10 hours) as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------- Nature of Work Tools used Output by one Man per Day --------------------------------------------------------------------- hectare Tillage of paddy _Kuwa_ (mattock) 0.06 " " " _Fumi-guwa_ (heavy spade) 0.1-0.15 Transplanting rice Hand work 0.07-0.1 Weeding Sickle and weeding tools 0.1 Cutting the rice crop Sickle 0.1-0.15 Mowing gra.s.s Sickle (long handle) 0.5 " " Scythe 0.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

But I have never seen a scythe in use in j.a.pan!

MANURE [XX]. The value of the manure used in j.a.pan in a year has been estimated at about 220 million yen, but for the three years ending 1916 it averaged 241 millions, as follows:

Produced or obtained by the Farmer Purchased yen yen Compost 63,500,000 Bean cake 32,000,000 Human waste 54,000,000 Mixed 17,000,000 Green manure 9,600,000 Miscellaneous 16,000,000 Rice chaff 5,000,000 Sulphate of ammonia 15,000,000 Superphosphate 12,000,000 Fish waste 12,000,000

Dr. Sato puts the artificial manure used per _tan_ at a sixth of that of Belgium and a quarter of that of Great Britain and Germany. See also Appendix IV. An agricultural expert once said to me, "j.a.panese farmer he keep five head of stock, his own family."

SOWING OF RICE [XXI]. A common seeding time is the eighty-eighth day of the year according to the old calendar, say May 1 or 2.

Transplanting is very usual at the end of May or early in June. In Kagawa, Shikoku, I found that rice was sown at the beginning of May or even at the end of April, the transplanting being done in mid-June.

The harvest was obtained 10 per cent. about September 10th, 30 per cent. in October and 60 per cent. about the beginning of November. The winter crop of naked barley was sown in the first quarter of December and was harvested late in May or early in June, so there was just time for the rice planting in mid-June.

In Kochi the first crop is sown about March 15, the seedlings are put out in mid-May and the harvest is ready about August 10. The second crop, which has been sown in June, is ready with its seedlings from August 13 to August 15, and the harvest arrives about November 1 and 2. The first crop may yield about 3 _koku_, the second 1-1/2 _koku_.

A good deal depends in raising a big crop on a good seed bed. This is got by reducing the quant.i.ty of seed used and by applying manure wisely. Whereas formerly as much as from 5 to 7 _go_ of seed was sown per _tsubo_, the biggest crops are now got from 1 _go_.

The j.a.panese names of the most widely grown varieties are Shinriki, Aikoku, Omachi, Chikusei and Sekitori. At an experiment station I copied the names of the varieties on exhibition there: Banzai, Patriotism, j.a.panese Embroidery, Good-looking, Early Power of G.o.d, Bamboo, Small Embroidery, Power of G.o.d, Mutual Virtue, Yellow Bamboo, Late White, Power of G.o.d (glutinous), Silver Rice Cake and Eternal Rice Field.

There are several thousand _cho_ in the vicinity of Tokyo where, owing to the low temperature of the marshy soil, the seed is sown direct in the paddies, not broadcast but at regular intervals and in thrice or four times the normal quant.i.ties.

RATE OF PLANTING [XXII]. I have been told that an adult who has the seedlings brought to his or her hand can stick in a thousand an hour.

The early varieties may be set in clumps of seven or eight plants; middle-growth sorts may contain from five to six; the latest kind may include only three or four. The number of clumps planted may be 42 per _tsubo_, which, as a _tsubo_ is nearly four square yards, is about ten per square yard. The clumps are put in their places by being pushed into the mud. A straight line is kept by means of a rope. The success of the crop depends in no small degree on skilful planting.

HOW MUCH RICE DOES A j.a.pANESE EAT? [XXIII]. The daily consumption of rice per head, counting young and old, is nearly 3 _go_. (A _go_ is roughly a third of a pint.) A st.u.r.dy labourer will consume at least 5 _go_ in a day, and sometimes 7 or even 10 _go_. The allowance for soldiers is 6 _go_. These quant.i.ties represent the rice uncooked. In recent years more and more rice has been eaten by those who formerly ate barley or mainly barley. And some who once ate a good deal of millet and _hiye_ are now eating a certain amount of rice. The average annual consumption per head of the j.a.panese population (Korea and Formosa excluded from the calculation) was: 1888-93, 948 _go_; 1908-13, 1,037 _go_; 1913-18, 1,050 _go_. The averages of 25 years (1888-1912) were: production, 42,756,584 _koku_; consumption, 44,410,725 _koku_; deficit, 1,984,970 _koku_; population, 45,140,094; per head, 0.980 _koku_. In 1921 the Department of Agriculture, estimating a population of 55,960,000 (see Appendix x.x.x) and an annual consumption per head of 1.1 _koku_ per year, put the national consumption for a year at about 61,550,000 _koku_. See also Appendix XXVI.

IMPORTED AND EXPORTED RICE [XXIV]. "Good rice" is imported from Korea and Formosa. The objection is to "Rangoon" rice. But most of the imported rice does not come from Rangoon but from Saigon. The figures for 1919 were in yen: China, 283,011; British India, 1,012,979; Kwantung, 15,053,977; Siam, 29,367,430; French Indo-China, 116,313,525; other countries, 39,918; total, 162,070,840. The exports in 1919 were in yen: China, 1,354; Australia, 6,570; Asiatic Russia, 165,463; Kwantung, 213,633; British America, 356,600; United States, 476,756; Hawaii, 3,046,598; other countries, 60,707--all obviously in the main for j.a.panese consumption. The total imports and exports were in _koku_ and yen over a period of years:

-------------------------------------------------------- Imports Exports Year ----------------------- ----------- ----------- _Koku_ Value (yen) _Koku_ Value (yen) -------------------------------------------------------- 1909 1,325,243 13,585,817 422,513 5,867,290 1910 918,627 8,644,439 429,251 5,900,477 1911 1,719,566 11,721,085 216,198 3,940,541 1912 2,234,437 30,193,481 208,423 4,367,824 1913 3,637,269 48,472,304 204,002 4,372,979 1914 2,022,644 24,823,933 260,738 4,974,108 1915 457,606 4,886,125 662,629 9,676,969 1916 309,158 3,087,616 686,479 11,197,356 1917 564,376 6,513,373 769,129 14,662,546 1918 4,647,168 89,755,678 264,565 8,321,965 1919 4,642,382 162,070,840 95,219 4,327,690 1920 471,083 18,059,194 116,249 5,897,675 --------------------------------------------------------

The twenty-five years' average (1888-1912) of excess of import over export was 1,339,493 _koku_. See also Appendix XXVIII.

INCREASE OF RICE YIELD AND OF POPULATION [XXV].