CHINA. yy 



vium-bearing streams. In addition to the ordinary advantages of soil 

 and variety of climate to which such a large expanse is naturally en- 

 titled, China enjoys one special favor in the singular deposit known as 

 Loess. 



The country lying north from the Yang-tze to the Gulf of Pe-chi-li, 

 part of which area has been made by the alluvial deposits of the Yang- 

 tze and Yellow rivers, is known as the Great Plain. Of this territory 

 there is a considerable section in the provinces of Shen-si, Shan-si and 

 Shan-tung, which is known as the Loess formation. This particular soil 

 is yellow in appearance, resembling alluvial material, but on exami- 

 nation is found to consist of a network of minute capillary tubes. The 

 best theory for its deposit is that it is the fine dust of dried vegetable 

 matter carried down by the winds from the northwest plains and 

 dropped where found. The fine tubes are accounted for by believing 

 them to be the spaces occupied by the roots of grasses, as the latter have 

 been continually raising themselves to keep on the consequently rising 

 surface. The Loess soil is of great and unknown thickness, of extraor- 

 dinary fertility and with great capacity for withstanding droughts, as 

 the tubes by their capillary action serve to bring up moisture from the 

 ground water below. This part of the Great Plain has been supplying 

 crops for many centuries without fertilizing and supports the densest 

 part of the Chinese population. 



In minerals, China is particularly rich. Of the precious metals, gold 

 and silver are known to exist, and probably in paying quantities, while of 

 the less valuable metals, copper, lead, antimony and others have been 

 found, and but await the introduction of proper transportation methods 

 to be developed. Petroleum occurs in Sz-chuen, the extreme western 

 province lying next to Tibet. But China's greatest mineral wealth lies 

 in iron and coal. The great fields of the latter are in Pe-chi-li, Shen-si, 

 Shan-si, Sz-chuen, Kiang-si and Hu-nan, where all varieties from soft 

 bituminous to very hard anthracites are found. Of the former there are 

 coals, both coking and non-coking, fit for steel-making or steam uses, 

 while of the latter there are those adapted for domestic use, with suffi- 

 cient volatile matter to ignite easily, and others sufficiently hard to bear 

 the burden in a blast furnace and sufficiently low in phosphorus, sulphur 

 and volatile substances to render them available for the manufacture of 

 Bessemer pig, as is done in Pennsylvania. Chinese houses are usually 

 without chimneys, and, therefore, the native is compelled to use for 

 domestic purposes an anthracite, or, as he calls it, a non-smoking coal, 

 which he burns in an open fireplace, the products of combustion escap- 

 ing through the doors, unglazed windows or the many leaks which are 

 usually found in Chinese roofs. 



In opposing the introduction of occidental reforms, methods and 

 commercial relations, China has invited, if not actually obliged, the 



