that rival
the natural ones in perfection. No person is so poor that he cannot,
on this great festal day, have his house, shop, place of amusement
or, at least, umbrella bedecked with these delicate blossoms. It is
almost beyond belief the extent to which they carry this festal day,
given up entirely to greetings and parades.

Then the wonderful wisteria! In its blossoming time the flower clusters
hang from long sprays like rich fringe. From the hill-tops the view
down on the tiny cottages, wreathed with the luxuriant vines, is most
beautiful. A single cluster is often three feet long. They make cups,
bowls and plates from the trunk of the vine.

There are marsh fields of the white lotus. The ridges of the heavily
thatched roofs are set with iris plants and their many hued blossoms
make a garden in the air.

One should visit Japan from April to November. In the cultivation of
the chrysanthemum they lay more stress on the small varieties than we
do; they prefer number to size. The autumn foliage is beautiful beyond
belief,--vision alone can do it justice. The hillsides, the mountain
slopes are thickly set with the miniature maples and evergreens;
the clear, brilliant hues of the one, heightened by contrast with
the dark green of the other, are strikingly vivid.

The trees and shrubs are surely more gnarled and knotted than they are
in Christian countries. They are trained in curious fashion. One limb
of a tree is coaxed and stretched to see how far it can be extended
from the body of the tree. At first I could not believe that these
limbs belonged to a stump so far away. The Japanese pride themselves
on their shrubs and flowers. Nothing gave me more pleasure than
seeing all this cultivation of the gardens, no matter how small,
around each home. I did not see a single bit of wood in Japan like
anything that we have. The veining, color, texture and adaptiveness
to polish suggest marble of every variety.

At Yokohama I engaged a guide, Takenouchi. I found him to be a faithful
attendant; his devotion and energy in satisfying my various requests
was unwearied; I shall ever feel grateful to him. He would make me
understand by little nods, winks, and sly pushes that I was not to
purchase, and he would afterwards say: "I will go back and get the
articles for you for just one-half the price the shop-keeper told
you." They hope to sell to Americans for a better price than they
ever get from each other. We went to every kind