The fertility of the soil varies in different localities, but the following may be taken as the standards :

It will be seen that the first crop varies from sixty-three bushels in Taichu to eighteen in Koshun, and the second from fiftynine in Shinko to eighteen bushels in Koshun. The average for the whole island is forty-three bushels for the first crop and thirty-four for the second. Two and a half acres is about the average amount of land which one man is able to manage, as the methods of cultivation are very rough and imperfect. The Formosan authorities are spending every effort to improve the conditions by establishing experimental farms and employing experts to deliver lectures up and down the island, and it is confidently expected that good results will be seen in the near future. Indeed, these results are already beginning to appear in the higher prices realized for the rice and the improvement in its quality.

Besides rice, Formosa produces potatoes, peanuts and several cereals. Their production is considerable, as may be seen from the following table :

The above-mentioned products form the staple food of the inhabitants, most of the rice produced being given in payment of their rents and taxes.

Though the area of the rice fields fluctuates somewhat, the export appears to be increasing year by year. The picul here mentioned equals 2.15 bushels. The above table gives the value of the rice exported to Japan, not the amount; this latter appears to have been about 1,000,000 bushels in 1902 and about 2,500,000 in 1903.

In proportion as Japan is becoming an industrial nation, it is impossible for her to satisfy all her own needs, and she

has to look to foreign countries to supply the deficiency; already she pays out about sixty million yen every year for imported food-stuffs. With such a large market near at hand, we cannot but hope that Formosa's agricultural industries may continue to flourish. The arable land in the island, according to the official survey, covers 3,136,000 acres. Of this, nearly 1,090,000 acres are devoted to rice, about 500,000 acres to sugar, potatoes, tea, etc., and the remainder, over 1,573,000 acres, is still unused in any way. Even though the Government exert all its energies to making sugar the staple industry, so vast an area cannot possibly be turned all at once into sugar plantations. The best plan to adopt would be to alternate the cultivation of sugar and rice; that would leave land enough for the further production of rice and other cereals. If better methods of cultivation and irrigation are employed, the fields which now only give one crop a year will produce two, while those which now give two crops may many of them be made to yield three. In the writer's opinion, Formosan rice is superior to Indian and Rangoon, and is well suited for general use in Japan.

Like everything else, the market price of rice fields in Formosa varies in different parts of the island. Generally speaking, they are worth 200 to 240 yen per acre in the Taichu district, 60 yen an acre round Toroku, and only about 50 yen an acre in the vicinity of Kyoshito. This difference is due to the fact that two crops of rice, with a leguminous crop between, can be raised on the same land each year in the districts north of Taichu. To the south of that district, however, on account of poor drainage and irrigation, only one crop can be looked for in the year; from the most fertile land the farmers, after paying all expenses, such as taxes, wages, fertilisers, seeds, etc., realize a profit of only 8 to 12 yen per acre. In most parts of Japan irrigated rice fields are expected to yield 5 per cent. on the capital, and this general rule holds good also in Formosa.

CHAPTER XVI.

COMMUNICATIONS-MAILS, HARBOURS, AND SHIPPING.

Bad condition of roads in former times-Present remarkable change-Formosan railway-Unsuccessful private and successful Government attempt to build the railway-Fares and rolling stock-Table of railway returns-Other lines built and planned-Communications between Formosa and Japan-Failure of competing lines-Government subsidies and regulations—Tables of voyages, tonnage, etc.-Lack of good harbours-Plans and progress-Importance of Kelung-The claims of other ports-Government action for the protection of seamen-Table of lighthouses-Postal system, early difficulties -List of offices, etc.-Telegraphs and telegraphic arrangements-Telephones and wireless telegraphy-Government losses and reasons for the

same.

ROADS AND RAILWAYS.

AFTER Formosa had passed into our possession the thing which most surprised Japanese visitors was the difficulty of travelling from one part to another, there being nothing in the whole island worth calling a road. There were paths leading from village to village; there were some country roads connecting the towns with the surrounding villages; but it was impossible to find anything like a State or Government road from town to town. This absence of good roads was due to the imperfect political unity of different parts of the island. State as well as commercial relations were confined within very narrow limits, the villages depending on some small town. which they had taken as their centre. Even the country roads above mentioned which ran from village to village were not like those in Japan, but were rather boundary lines round the farms, being in most cases little more than a foot wide. Travellers were obliged, therefore, either to walk or go in chairs. In some of the sugar districts in the south there were roads which were used by buffalo carts transporting sugarcane, but as they belonged to the sugar planters, they were

private property, and closed to the public. Our army experienced so much inconvenience from this absence of roads that they were compelled to widen them wherever they passed; indeed, they may be said to have been the first road-makers in the island. After the military administration had come to an end, the civil administration devoted much energy to this question, so that now there is a good wide carriage road, which may be called the Formosan State road, running right through the island from north to south. There are also many smaller roads, that may be called district roads running from town to town, and also connecting the different villages with one another. Even the roads which connect the smaller villages have been widened, so that carts can now pass easily.

There are now 5,922 miles of roads which may rightly be called public roads. Of these 2,899 miles are under 6 feet wide; 2,154 miles under 12 feet; 593 miles under 18 feet; 220 miles under 24 feet, and 56 miles over 24 feet wide. There are also 3,339 bridges under 30 feet wide; 315 over 30 feet; 69 over 129 feet, and 7 over 300 feet wide, making 3,730 bridges in all. The island is now well provided, horses and carriages being able to pass wherever there are any houses. The greater part of these improvements were carried out between the years 1898 and 1902. The change in so short a time is indeed astonishing, and the success of the civil administration deserves a more general recognition, especially when it is understood that the Formosans themselves were induced to contribute their land or work by a system of local taxation in kind.

It seems incongruous that there should have been a railway in Formosa though there were no roads to speak of-the fact shows how very enthusiastic Liu Ming-chuan was for reforms. Through lack of funds and political opposition he was not able to carry the line through from north to south as he had intended. The work was under weigh from 1887 to 1893, but during those seven years not more than sixty-three miles from Kelung to Shinchiku were completed. Even this portion was very imperfectly done, as the Chinese who superintended the American engineers were quite incompetent, and continually interfered with the latter. The Japanese engineers who inspected the line found to their amazement that it was quite