crops of these three nations, and the systems of agriculture they
have evolved to realize the most from them, are to us remarkable and
indicate a grasp of essentials and principles which may well cause
western nations to pause and reflect.

Notwithstanding the large and favorable rainfall of these countries,
each of the nations have selected the one crop which permits them to
utilize not only practically the entire amount of rain which falls
upon their fields, but in addition enormous volumes of the run-off
from adjacent uncultivable mountain country. Wherever paddy fields
are practicable there rice is grown. In the three main islands of
Japan 56 per cent of the cultivated fields, 11,000 square miles, is
laid out for rice growing and is maintained under water from
transplanting to near harvest time, after which the land is allowed
to dry, to be devoted to dry land crops during the balance of the
year, where the season permits.

To anyone who studies the agricultural methods of the Far East in
the field it is evident that these people, centuries ago, came to
appreciate the value of water in crop production as no other nations
have. They have adapted conditions to crops and crops to conditions
until with rice they have a cereal which permits the most intense
fertilization and at the same time the ensuring of maximum yields
against both drought and flood. With the practice of western nations
in all humid climates, no matter how completely and highly we
fertilize, in more years than not yields are reduced by a deficiency
or an excess of water.

It is difficult to convey, by word or map, an adequate conception of
the magnitude of the systems of canalization which contribute