MENHO YOMU: THE ESSENTIALS OF COTTON CULTURE AND FARMING.

OKURA, Nagatsune.

Edité par

Osaka [1833], Kawachiya. Stitched blue wrs., 2 vols., set, minor restored worming, 65+64p., 18 b.w. illustrations, wood block printed Washi paper, 14.5 x 22 cm.,as usual covers bit scuffed, faded, contents clean, solid. FIRST & ONLY EDITION . *** **** *** . . PRACTICAL 1833 MONOGRAPH ON ALL PHASES OF COTTON CULTURE . . . WITH SUPERB WOODCUT ILLUSTRATIONS . * This excellent monograph was written by the altruistic Okura Nagasune [1768-1856?]. He was a renaissance man, and worked to improve the life of the impoverished Japanese farmer. He introduced many new and unusual cash crops including cotton, sugar cane, indigo, cedar, Paulownia, various paper-making plants [Washi] and the tallow or wax tree among several other useful examples. . *** THE SUBJECTS: Volume 1 begins with an introduction extolling the virtues of the cotton plant and a fine illustration of its botanical taxonomy: leaves, stem, buds, flowers, seeds &c. . Continued with illustration a lowly farmer and is wife; she rotates the home-made wooden cotton gin by hand, while their elderly and helpless grandfather looks on. The husband and his companion are loading cotton balls into rice straw bails. . Continuing with explanations on cultivation techniques, preparation of the planting beds, planting of the seedlings, fertilization by use of two wooden buckets on the shoulder yoke, application of "night soil" to the plants. . A double-page illustration of the farming implements with names of each, many are hand-forged steel on wooden handles. . Okura's commentaries on the use of one tool over another in terms efficient time use, performing the same job in less time with improved tools, based on his "time & motion" studies. As the plants grow, so the birds come to feast on the fruit & flowers! . * Volume 2 continues with more excellent illustrations on the watering & irrigation of the plants. This shows a great number of shallow water well pump poles used to pull up the field water. As the cotton balls are harvested, some are put into bamboo baskets, weighed and prepared for transport to buyers. . Variant forms of the raised bed method are also shown with water trenches for abundant water. Okura was aware of cotton's need of heavy watering and fertilizer feeder because his grandfather was a cotton farmer. . Okura introduced the use of sardines to fertilizer and shorten the growing season. . An illustrations shows an old grandfather supplements family income by rotating a hand powered homemade cotton spinning wheel. The illustration shows the cotton market, with coolies moving great numbers of bailed cotton to waiting barges, others unload the horses. . *** OKURA NAGATSUNE [1768-c.1850]: A most valuable contribution to the agriculture genre by Japan's pre-eminent agriculture technologist. . An excellent essay on Okura and this title by Prof. R.C. Rudolph is found in Okura's SEIYU ROKU: ON OIL MANUFACTURING [1974], a reprint in English translation of the original 1836 edition. On pages 67-70 Rudolph points out Okura's origins as the son of a cotton farmer, who witnessed the suffering of the crop failures in 1883 & 1787. . This work was an improvement over his predecessor's landmark study: NOGYO ZENSHO: GENERAL TREATISE ON AGRICULTURE. 1696. published by Miyazaki Antei. To this, Okura added his own observations on the sexuality of the cotton plant by use of a microscope submitting very accurate drawings of various plant parts. Okura extolled his good results from using different fertilizers, irrigation, cotton ginning and seed selection. . Please visit our website as we have other titles by Okura and related botanical or agricultural subjects. Currently we have his SEIYU ROKU: ON OIL MANUFACTURING and others in stock. . *** Please review photos posted to our website. . *** REFERENCES . A.M. Craig et al: PERSONALITY IN JAPANESE HISTORY, pp.127-154 by Thomas C. Smith. Wherein Smith outlines more about this Okura, the "technologist" and hitherto unsung hero-champion of the common. N° de réf. du vendeur 84230401

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