manure composed of one part night soil and three parts water, and
again, subsequent to this, there are two further manurings; one of a
mixture of dried sardines, lees of oil, and lees of rice beer, which
is applied about the middle of June, when the plant has attained a
height of four inches; and again early in July, when the plant has
grown to a height of six or seven inches, a further manuring of night
soil, mixed with a larger proportion of water than before. At this
stage the head of the plant is pinched off with the fingers, in order
to check the excessive growth of the stem, and direct the strength
into the branches, which usually number five or six. From these
branches minor ones spring, but the latter are carefully pruned off as
they appear. In the middle of August the flowers begin to appear
gradually. They fall soon after their appearance, leaving in their
place the pod or peach (_momo_), which, after ripening, opens in
October by three or four valves and exposes the cotton to view. The
cotton is gathered in baskets, in which it is allowed to remain till a
bright, sunshiny day, when it is spread out on mats to dry and swell
in the sun for two or three days. After drying, the cotton is packed
in bags made of straw matting, and either sold or put aside until such
time as the farmer's leisure from other agricultural operations
enables him to deal with it. The average yield of cotton in good
districts in Japan is about 120 lb. to the acre, but as cotton is only
a secondary crop, this does not therefore represent the whole profit
gained by the farmer from his land. The prefectures in which the
production is largest are Aichi on the east coast, Osaka, Hiogo,
Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi on the inland sea, and Fukui and Ishikawa on
the west coast. Vice-consul Longford says that the manufacture of
cotton in Japan is still in all its stages largely a domestic one.
Gin, spindle, and loom are all found in the house of the farmer on
whose land the cotton is grown, and not only what is required for the