Third Report by Mr. Adams on Silk Culture in Japan, dated

August 10, 1870.

My Lord,

Sir H. Parkes to Earl Granville.-(Received October 31.)

Yedo, September 5, 1870. I HAVE the honour to forward copies of a Third Report by Mr. Adams on silk culture in Japan, giving the result of his observations during a tour which he made in the months of June and July last through the Provinces of Bushiu, Shinshiu, Joshui, and Echigo. The map, which is attached to this Report, traces the route which Mr. Adams and his companions followed during this journey, and also during that of last year, and shows how widely they extended in the present instance the field of their research.

I feel that it would be superfluous for me to commend this Report to your Lordship's notice, as it contains ample evidence within itself of the care with which it has been compiled, and of the industry which Mr. Adams continues to devote to the subject. The appointment by the Minister of the Interior of a Japanese Officer, and near relative of his own, to accompany Mr. Adams, afforded a gratifying proof of the interest now being taken in silk culture by the Japanese Government, and proved of material assistance to Mr. Adams, who was most kindly received by the authorities and people at every place he visited.

I trust your Lordship will approve of my having followed the course I adopted in the case of Mr. Adams' previous Reports, by allowing the present one to be published at Yokohama, in order that it may become readily accessible to the mercantile community in Japan, who are so much interested in the subject.

I have, &c.

Report of a Visit to various Silk Districts of Japan, made by Mr. Adams, Secretary to Her Britannic Majesty's Legation, accompanied by Matsuné Gonroku and Messrs. J. Davison and C. Wirgman, in the months of June and July, 1870.

SINCE the date of my last Report the Japanese Government have devoted some attention to the subject of silk culture. Two Notifications, translations of which have already been published, have emanated from the Ministry of the Interior, under the intelligent guidance of Daté, ex-Prince of Uwajima. For convenience' sake I annex copies of these Notifications (Appendices Nos. 1 and 2); the first contains a series of questions which the natives are encouraged to investigate and answer, with a view of giving information to the Government: and the second treats of a variety of diseases incident to the "bombyx mori" at different stages of its existence, and to the intention of introducing European machinery in order to improve the reeling of the silk. To this document was added a Japanese version of the substance of my second Report, in so far as it treats of the uji, and of the necessity for European machinery. This, as well as the two Notifications, has been sent extensively into the silk districts by order of the Minister of the Interior, and it was also published separately. Six hundred copies were presented by the British Minister to the Yokohama General Chamber of Commerce, for distribution among the native silk merchants who come to Yokohama; and I took with me this [66] B 2

year a number of copies for distribution in the country wherever it might seem requisite.

Owing to the manifest interest which the Japanese Government were evincing in the matter of silk culture, it was considered that it would be not only a courteous act, but one likely to prove of much benefit in an international point of view, if a Japanese gentlemen were associated in my expedition of this year. Accordingly Matsuné Gonroku, son-in-law of the Minister Daté, was invited, and formed one of the party. He was of the greatest assistance to me, both in smoothing away the little difficulties which inevitably occur on such a journey, and in obtaining for us more unrestrained intercourse with the natives. He also interested himself especially in the particular subject which occupied us; and it is no small satisfaction to me personally that it has fallen to my lot to be the first to associate a Japanese gentlemen with foreigners in an extended tour through his own country in the common interests of commerce. The other members of the party were Messrs. Davison and Wirgman. The practical knowledge of the former was again of great use to me. Unfortunate and unforeseen events had rendered our Legation very short-handed for the moment, and therefore no interpreter could be spared to accompany me. Mr. Wirgman, however, supplied that want; and I am also indebted to him for the sketches and maps which accompany and illustrate the Report.

Our guards were seven in number, and vied with each other in attending to our wants. I would particularly mention the head-man, Murata Uhachirô, who has accompanied me both years, and whose excellent arrangements and unremitting attention will always be remembered by us with pleasure. The civility which we met with from officers of various clans and districts, was even more marked than last year. Our journey extended to more than 600 miles, and Appendix No. 3 contains an itinerary of the whole route. Appendix No. 4 is a map which shows this year's as well as last year's route; and Appendix No. 5 is a general map of part of Japan.

We

We travelled on horseback, and started from Yedo on the 6th of June, our first point being Shimonita, a name well known in the Yokohama silk market. The direct road runs a little to the left of the Nakasendô, and gradually approaches the continuous range of hills and mountains which skirt the great Yedo plain. first came upon the mulberry plants about forty miles from the Eastern capital. We commenced our investigations at Okawa, where the larvæ were either in their first rest, awakening from it, or had already completed their fourth rest. The eggs came from Chichibu in Musashi. The inhabitants of Okawa and the neighbourhood are in the habit of buying their seed, and confining themselves to reeling the cocoons. In the season a market day is held six times a-month; and the silk is brought in from a circuit of ten or twelve miles, and is generally bought by the head-man, who forwards it on to Yokohama for sale. The produce is computed at about 100 bales.

The worms were said to be very free from disease this year. There had been little frost in this neighbourhood during the spring, and hence the mulberry leaves were of good quality. As usual, those were considered best where there was a good current of air; and the trees near the river were most thickly covered with leaves, and throve best. As the weather had not damaged the leaf, fewer uji than last year were expected, the ravages of that parasite depending, according to these people upon the quality of the mulberry. At the same time they allowed that it was too soon to speak positively on this subject. They knew of no dark spot indicating the presence of the uji.

At Hachimanyama, on the 8th, the worms, mostly reared from eggs of the place, were either in their fourth rest, or near the spinning time. There had been a little frost whilst the larva were in the early stage, and their somewhat poor condition was thus accounted for. It seems, however, more probable that the cause was to be found in the inferior quality of the eggs. We were told that the town (of about 500 houses) reared 14,000 cards from annuals, and 4,000 from bivoltini. They were sold last year in Yokohama for 4 dollars a card. The peasants reel their own silk, and sell it to wholesale merchants either in their cottages or at the town market. There were a few diminutive cocoons, spun by worms after the second or third rest; and there were several worms which, having arrived at the period for spinning, were unable to perform that function. These were distinguishable by the unhealthy appearance of their extremities, and by the want of transparency in their bodies. They were expected to die in a few days. We could not ascertain the

name of this disease; it was attributed to the larvæ having been fed either upon wet or damaged leaves.

We were assured that there has been a great increase in the cultivation of the mulberry in this district of late years; that even last year a number of fresh cuttings were planted; and in confirmation of this, as we rode along, we observed a quantity of young shoots. From Hachimanyama to Fujioka the plantations of the mulberry were much thicker. They were to be found in patches, in lines bordering the fields, and in rows between the grain. The soil had now become much lighter; instead of a rich loam, it was sandy and stony, especially near the river, which forms the boundary between the Provinces of Musashi and Jôshiu; and the mulberry appeared to flourish in proportion as the grain yielded a poorer

crop.

On the 9th at Tomiôka, a place of about 500 houses, we found healthy worms. Two diseases were mentioned, one called "fushikaka," where the portions between the joints swell after the 4th rest, and the worm dies without being able to spin its cocoon. This disease is not generally frequent in a crop. Another disease was called “kajimi,” when the worm does not feed after the 4th rest, its head becomes a light red colour, and it does without spinning. This would seem to be the same disease as the "angaru kaiko," mentioned in the Government notification. Most of the eggs were said to come from Shinshiu; a small quantity, however, were of local production. A thousand bales were given as the average annual amount of silk sent to Yokohama.

The 10th and 11th of June we spent at Shimonita, and as it does not appear to have been previously visited by foreigners, some little description of the locality may not be out of place. It is a village of 270 houses, said to have been large r before a fire which took place three years ago. It contains one principal street, roughly paved, the houses being two-storied, and their roofs weighted with large stones. The street runs at right-angles across a narrow valley, almost hemmed in at this point by hills which rise up in abrupt peak-like forms, and are covered with trees to their summits. A river which takes its source in the hills near the top of the Wami Pass (dividing Jôshiu from Shinshiu), rushes past one end of the village, and is supplemented on the right bank by two streams emanating from narrow picturesque gorges. Along the banks of the river, on the sides of the hills, and indeed in every available spot, mulberry plantations are to be seen, in patches, in diminutive avenues along the paths, and in borders round the fields.

Shimonita has always been famed for producing some of the best hank silks which are sold in the Yokohama market. Its situation presents certain similar features to those common to the best producing places, such as the proximity to a river, and the light stony soil. As to elevation, it is higher than the plain which stretches from Yedo to Mayebashi and Takasaki, but not so high as the Uyeda basin. The several valleys which meet there must generally secure a current of fresh air that cannot but be advantageous to both mulberry-plants and worms. There was an appearance of health about the people, and of cleanliness about the rooms appropriated to the silkworms, and it was evident that silk culture is the one important business of the whole locality.

The most interesting visit of the first day was to the house of Ishigami Sanyemon, a little way out of the village, close to the river. He said that silk-culture had been practised in his house for a hundred years, and that he himself had reared worms for eleven years; that the seed came originally from Shinshiu, but that now his worms were partly hatched from Shinshiu eggs, and partly from his own; that he reared them in general for eggs, to be sold as well to people in the neighbourhood as in Yokohama; that last year there were a great many uji, but that this year a good crop was expected, owing to the favourable weather and to the healthy appearance of the worms. The latter were in first-rate condition, mostly approaching the period of spinning, and no particular disease was complained of.

He showed us his mulberry plantations, and pointed out several kinds of trees, both there and on our way. Drawings of six different varieties of leaves will be found annexed. The names given to the same leaf in various localities are quite different and very confusing. The "yotsumé," mentioned last year, does not exist under that appellation, as far as we could gather, in Joshiu. After much questioning here and in many other places, we were forced to come to the conclusion that the worms are in general fed indiscriminately on all the varieties, care being, however, taken to choose the most tender leaves whilst the worms are young, and immediately after each rest, as they are then more delicate. These mulberry-plants