s affected in this way were grey in
patches and looked as if hot water had been sprayed over them. In one
county the loss was put as high as 90 per cent. Happily farmers
generally sow several sorts of rice. Therefore paddies come into ear
at different times.

The heads of millet and the threshed grain of other upland crops were
drying on mats by the roadside, for in the areas where land is so much
in demand there is no other space available. Sesame, not unlike
snapdragon gone to seed, only stronger in build, was set against the
houses. On the growing crops on the uplands dead stalks and chopped
straw were being used as mulch.

I noticed that implements seemed always to be well housed and to be
put away clean. Handcarts, boats and the stacks of poles used in
making frameworks for drying rice were protected from the weather by
being thatched over.

We continued to see many white-clad pilgrims and everywhere touring
students, as often afoot as on bicycles. I noted from the registers at
many village offices that the number of young men who married before
performing their military service seemed to be decreasing. In one
community, where there were two priests, one Tendai and the other
Shingon, neither seemed to count for much. One was very poor, and
cultivated a small patch near his temple; the other had a little more
than a _cho_. The custom was for the farmers to present to their
temple from 5 to 10 _sho_ of rice from the harvest.

In connection with the question of improved implements I noticed that
a reasonably efficient winnowing machine in use by a comfortably-off
tenant was forty-nine years old--that is, that it dated back to the
time of the Shogun. The secondary industry of this farmer was
dwarf-plant growing. He had also a loom for cotton-cloth making. There
were in his house, in addition to a Buddhist shrine, two Shinto
shrines. After leaving this man I visited an ex-teacher who had lost
his post at fifty, no doubt through being unable to keep step with
modern educational requirements. He had on his wall the lithograph of
Pestalozzi and the children which I saw in many school-houses.

On taking the road again I was told that the local landlords had held
a meeting in view of the losses of tenants through wind. Most had
agreed to forgo rents and to help with artificial manure for next
year. I found taro being grown in paddies or under irrigation. Not
only the tubers of the taro but its finer stalks are eaten. I