But, taking all these difficulties into consideration, and harmonizing them so far as possible, we have been able to construct the following modern Japanese floral calendar:— January Pine. February Plum. March Peach. April Cherry. May Wistaria. June Iris. July Morning-glory. August Lotus. September “Seven Grasses.” October Chrysanthemum. November Maple. December Camellia. JAPAN AND SIAM[232] Mr. Inagaki, Japanese Representative in Bangkok, has been making strenuous efforts to bring about the establishment of a direct line of steamers between Japan and Siam. He maintains that there cannot be any substantial development of trade without some improvement of the means of communication. Tōkyō newspapers report that the Ōsaka Shōsen Kaisha has been induced to undertake the extension of its Formosan line to Siam, and that arrangements are now under discussion with the Formosan officials. In a lecture delivered by Mr. Inagaki before the Japan Economic Society, he insisted that Siam could be of the greatest service to Japan in supplying raw materials and food stuffs. Her production of sugar, hemp, and gum is very large, and whereas her export of silk ten years ago was only 250,000 _yen_, it is now 10 millions. The Siamese government has decided to devote a quarter of a million _yen_ to agricultural experimental stations, and there can be no doubt that if Japan sent seeds of raw materials to be grown in that country, fine results would be obtained. It is important that a country like Japan should have a source of supply which would certainly remain neutral in time of war, and Siam is essentially such a source. This question of food supply will one day be as important for Japan as it is already for England, and its solution seems to lie in the direction of Siam. FORMOSA UNDER JAPAN Concerning Formosa under Japanese rule the following additional items are worthy of notice. The Governor-General, 1913, is Count Sakuma. It has been pointed out by the “Japan Mail” that the revenue of the new territory in the first six years after its cession to Japan has increased by 600 per cent, as shown in the following table:— _Yen._ 1896 2,710,000 1897 5,320,000 1898 8,250,000 1899 11,750,000 1900 14,900,000 1901 16,370,000 * * * * * The number of the pest patients in Formosa has been decreasing year after year, as the following returns for the period January 1 to June 17 of the respective years show:— CASES. MORTALITY. 1901 3,481 2,619 1902 1,795 1,352 1903 750 606 * * * * *