田辺市周辺に於ける金柑栽培

その変遷を中心として

抄録

The circumference of Tanabe City is one of the most important regions for the cultivation of kumquat in this country. The writer of this paper is to make a report of the cultivation of kumquat and its transition in this region.
Although it is unknown exactly when kumquat began to be cultivaed there, it is supposed that it was planted by way of experiment at the end of the Meiji era (approximately 1850) and began to be cultivated in a large way witin some ten years after the 20th year of Meiji (1887-). Later, having reached the peak during the Taisho period (1912-26), the cultivation of kumquat maintained the similar status until the end of the war. At least, up to the early years of Showa (1926), kumquat was supposed to be the most essential fruit-tree in this region. Kamiakita, which is now the centre for the cultivation of kumquat in this region, was once a poor, rather miserable rural community of rice and barley growing in the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-). After the 20th year of Meiji, however, great interest was taken in the cultivation of citrus fruits and semiculture, and as the result of which, it has become a rich village at a bound in the early years of the Showa period. The above fact tells us what a big role the cultivation of kumquat played for the prosperity of the village. As the reason why the cultivation of kumquat has flourished, many points are mentioned: imitative factor-villagers followed a few forerunners who happened to plant for trial in this region; economical factor-accommodating itself to the times of the development of commercial agriculture, the cultivation of kumquat began to be carried on in a big way as a crop to be turned into money for betterment of the economical condition of poor farmers; managing factor-farmers wanted to make the most of the slanting surface of a mountainside, in an attempt to cover the agriculture on a low-lying, level land which is apt to suffer from a flood; natural factor-as a basic factor, the configuration of the land and climatic condition in this region were just fitted to accelerate the above-mentioned factores; and lastly, factor attached to the nature of the crop-kumquat is very strong against noxious insects such as melanauster chinensis and prontaspis yanonensis kuwana.
In the last stage of the war, kumquat trees were pulled out in order to increase the yield of the staple food instead. At present, the cultivated area of kumquat is less than one thirds of that of the pre-war days; and despite the fact that Onshu and summer orange, which were once bound to the same doom as kumquat, have been recovering afterwards, kumquat is fated to decrease and rather seems to be cultivated from force of habit. The factors which have brought the cultivation of kumquat in such a condition as this are: economical factor-the decrease of the revenue per tan (about. 245 acres) and the reduction of demand and market in the post-bellum days; and factors attached to the nature of the crop-the generation of ceroplastes rubens Maskell which spoils kumquat very badly, the slow growing of kumquat to the fructif ication, and the fact that the kind of kumquat produced in this region is oval kumquat.