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The spring generally commences early in April, and in some two or three weeks the winter snows have melted—the rivers are in high flood—and even some portion of the plains are under water.
The upper Ishi-kari when in flood rises some nine or ten feet, in the gorge some twenty-seven or thirty feet; below the gorge it drops down to a rise of nine or ten feet, which increases at the great bend forty-five miles above Shinoro to a height of eighteen or twenty feet; at Shinoro the drift shewed twelve or fourteen feet rise.
It takes about three weeks for the waters to drain off, May, June, July and August are fine months. In upper Ishi-kari, this year, the first snow appeared on the hills on the 1st September, but there was no frost until the 4th October. In lower Ishi-kari (Satsporo) the snow first appeared on the hills on the 3rd October, and the first frost on the 5th. Snow falls heavily in November and December, and remains during the winter months. From four to seven feet is the depth of the snow-fall.
The total number of Ainos on the Ishi-kari is 246.
Besides the vast quantity of timber, there are found wild hemp, hops, grapes, millet, asparagus, celery, mint, mushrooms, &c. Winter wheat has been grown with great success, as also have buck-wheat, millet, maize, potatoes, beans, peas and a large variety of vegetable and root crops. The finest and most valuable product is the Japanese hemp (asa). Its long staple, fine fibre and silken sheen, will always command attention if produced in large quantities.
There is every facility for the production of immense crops of this article, plenty of new clean land, of water for preparing, packing, &c., and for transport to the coast; little manual labour is required and very little machinery. Its cultivation on a small scale is already understood, and if developed with a view to foreign export it would bid fair to become as important a speciality as either tea, silk or silk-worms’ eggs; then, in the event of the land sickening the crop can be varied by sowing wheat or barley.
