Expenditures of the Russo-Japanese war / by Gotaro Ogawa.

EFFECTS ON AGRICULTURE

241

were not found in the Japanese market; while the latter, from
the bad catch of herring in the Hokkaido, decreased in supply.
Both kinds of fertilizers rose in price considerably owing to
these causes, as well as to shortage in shipping, and to the rise
in insurance and freight rates due to dangers of the sea. In
consequence, they began to use self-made manures instead.
The use of green manure, accumulated manure, stable
manure, rice bran, lime (the price of which did not rise), and
night soils became more general than before. The increase
of second crops by means of green manure, in particular, is
shown by the following table:
SECOND CROP INCREASE BY USE OF GREEN MANURE, 1903-1907
Year Second crop green Percentage to
manure fields other fields
Cho Per cent
903............................. 159,575 5.67
1904. 1 54,003 5.49
I905................ 179, 91 6.34
I906....................... 199,833 7.04
1907............... 232,327 8.17

CHANGES IN VARIOUS OTHER DIRECTIONS
In spite of the rigorous economy exercised by the peasants,
farming underwent changes in various directions through the
war. Indeed, the burdens were too heavy and the deficiency
too great for economy alone to make good. The following
are the important indications of the poverty caused by the
situation:
(I) The decrease in the crop-producing land: Though the
area of land under cultivation showed no decrease, the shortage
of labor was reflected in the decrease of the crop-yielding
land. The area of land yielding the eight main agricultural
products for food (barley, peas, red beans, millet, grainbearing panic grass, sorghum, sweet potatoes, and potatoes)
and the five kinds of special agricultural products (seed
cotton, hemp, leaf indigo, leaf tobacco, and rape seed) can be
tabulated as follows:
I7