798 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1886. 



A CORRECT ESTIMATE OF CHINESE AGRI- 



Cl'LTlTRE, 

 The skill of the Cliinoso in agiii-nlUin- lias vury 

 commonly been assortnd in this fonntry to hv greatly 

 supoiior to that of the n;itivi's of Hindustan. In 

 jnstire to the latter, we now ilirect the attention of 

 of our readers to the following extract fiom The 

 River of dolden Sand, by Captain Oille, H. E., page 



Notwithstanding the indnstvy of the Chinese and 

 their admirable system of irrigation and terrace cul- 

 tivation, there can be very little doubt that the ex- 

 ceedingly high estimate in which their ntirienlture is 

 held, is very far from being de^e. ved. 'I'liis ajipears 

 to have been derived from the French n'issionaries, 

 for as early as 1801, Harrow speaks of the way in 

 which it had been over-rated. Nearly all moderns 

 who have been in China make the same obsei-vation, 

 anil yet there rent;iins amongst lOuropeans out of Uhiua, 

 the conviction tliat the t'liinese possess secrets im- 

 known to. or nuguessed at, by Knropeans. The real 

 pohit in which the t'hinesi^ excel is in industry. It 

 is industry that leads them to take such care never 

 to waste the sm.allest trille; and it is industry that 

 makes it worth their while to gather n|i tlie last frag- 

 ments. Industry again enables them to dispense with 

 any other manure than the sewage of the towns. Kor 

 a peasant will walk into the town, fetcli his niaimre, 

 and take it to his fiield himself. It is by industry 

 that in tlie large pl.iins, the Chinese are enabled to 

 keep their rice lields properly watered ; for it is not 

 possible to conduct the water by canals to every jiart 

 and every level of a with* plain ; it must therefore 

 be lifted arlilicially, and all d.iy long coolies are to 

 be seen in tie extensive jdains, raising water by the 

 means of little tread-mill.s. lint beyond this industry, 

 the Chinese can hardlv lay <'laim to any superiority 

 over other nations. They plough about as well as 

 the natives of India, doing little more than scratch 

 the ground. It is true that they can r.aise two crops 

 on the same field, as. for instance, when they plant 

 opium under rape, or yams beneath millet, lint this 

 is a .system not altogether unknown to J'juropean fru-in- 

 ers, and in the East Indies it is cnstonuiry to grow 

 yams un.lerneath the sugar-cane. Some of Harrow's 

 remarks appear to be worth iiuoting:— '' They have 

 no knowledge of the modes of improvement practised 

 in the various breeds of cattle; no instruments, for 

 breaking up and preparing waste lands; no .system 

 for draining .nnd reclaiming swamps anil morasses. . 

 . . Levelling the sides of mountains into a succession 

 of terraces, is a moile of cultivation freipii'iitly taken 

 notice of by the missioiuiries, as nnexainpleil in Europe 

 and peenlilir to the Chinese, whereas it is common 

 in ni'iny parts of Europe, and in the hill tracts of 



India (*f the modes jiractiscd in Europe 



of improving the quality of fruit, they seem to have 

 no just uotiou. . • . Apples, pears, plums, peaches, 

 and apricots are of indifferent i|uality. . . . They 

 have no nu'thod of forcing vegetables by artifical beat, 

 or by excluding th(^ cold .air and admitting at teh 

 same time the rays of the sun through glass. Their 

 chief merit consists iu preparing the soil, working 

 it inces.santly, and keeping it free from weeds." Thus 

 wrote Barrow, three iiuarlers-of-a-century ago. The 

 Chinese are no further advanced than they were in 

 his time ; and it is hardly necosssary to add anything 

 to his remarks, except to observe that not only have 

 the Chinese " no just notion " of improving the i|uality 

 of fruit, but that to this day, they remain in lompleto 

 ignorance of the science of grafting.— /lufjiiii .h/rici'l- 



iKi-ist. 



« 



AsiiHSTOs.— When on a visit to Uockhamton recently, 

 we were shown some splcndiil specimens of asbestos, and 

 we were informed that if tliere was any demand for the 

 article, it could be unearthed in almost untold ipinntlt- 

 ies. Our Yankee cousins are setting us an example in 

 this matter which we would do well to follow. Thiy 

 are making hats with an asbestos-lining to the irowo. 

 on the well-known fact that asbestos is a non-comlncto.- 

 of hent.— Pill nfir nnd I'nrmtr. 



Manilla Hemp.— The plant so well known as tlie 

 Abaca (Musa textilis), from the stem of which Manilla 

 Hemp is prepared, is described as doing remarkably 

 well at Sandakan, in liorneo. The smallness of the 

 population, the well-to-do character of the people, 

 as well as their disiuelinatiun to hard work, is said to 

 prevent anything like an in.lustry in the preparation 

 of the librc being established similar to that in the 

 riiilippines. .Should a machine, he discovered adapted 

 to its production, at however small a profit, there is no 

 limit to the ipiuntity that can be produced. — Giudeners' 

 ( 'liriillirli'. 



Edoos. — Some s)iort time since a French gentleman 

 waited on us and stated his intention of starting the 

 cultivation of frogs for this market. This bu.siness 

 appears to answer iu America. A\e learn that iluring 

 the summer months from l.OHO lb. to 2,l)iKJlb. of frog's 

 meat are eaten daily in New York. They are shipped 

 fresh to that market fvtun (Canada, principally in large 

 half-berrels. The love for frog meat is on the in- 

 crease. Ejiicnres and men of extreme wealth give 

 exhorbitant jirices for them. The large green frog 

 is the chief kind sold. In Chicago they are called 

 water chickens, bt can.so their flesh is as white as that 

 of a chicken when dressed properly. "\Ve have the 

 great advantage over Canada for this branch of stock 

 raising that our waters do not freeze. In a drought 

 it might be necessary to dry the frogs to the next 

 lagoon. — Ptitutn' and Faniiir. 



(hiAucoAL.— It really wonld'appe.ar as if the common 

 and despLsed charcoivl were far more valuable than any 

 of us think. A\'e all know its value as a manure for fruit 

 trees — at least if we do not we ought to. Some of us 

 have the secret of growing the most beautiful flowers, as 

 all may by a liberal application. .Six months since wo 

 had a corresiiondent who thought he could fatten pigs 

 on charcoal, and many are in tlie habit of giving it regul- 

 arly to their pigs and poultry ; while here and there a 

 housewife keeps a few lumps in her dairy, and places 

 pieces on the butcher's meat to keep away <langer of 

 taint. It is excellent in all these cases, and now the 

 America,! Vidtiratdr tells us of an exi>orinient of fatten- 

 ing turkeys with its assistance. It appears that four 

 turkeys were confined in a pen and fed on meal, boiled 

 potatoes, and oats. Four others of the same brood were 

 also at the sam(! time contined in another pen, and fed 

 daily on the same articles, but with a pint of very finely 

 pulverised charcoal mixed with their tooil, mixed meal 

 and boiUnl potatoes. They hail also a plentiful sup- 

 plv of broken charcoal in their pen. The eight were 

 killed on the same day; and there was a difference 

 of a pound and a liilf each in favour of the fowls which 

 had been supplied with charcoal, they being much the 

 fattest, and file meat greatly superior in point of 

 temlerness ami flavour. As charcoal can be so readily 

 obtained it is well worth while giving it a trial in the 

 above way. — Pliititrr and Fartihi: 



TitAJiwAvs. — Arc fast becoming a necessity on our 

 plantations, morn especially since the labour dithculty 

 has confronted the proprietors, as it is found that by 

 means of trams and cars plantation work can be done 

 much more satisfactorily and ccoiiimiically than with 

 horses and cnrts. An advi'rtiseniKiit iu another column 

 states that the demand for the Decauville I'ortable 

 Tramways has become regular, and that they are always 

 kept i.i stock iu Sydney for prompt tr.aushijmient where 

 necessary. In our excursions from time to time among 

 the plantations we have heard willing testimony as to 

 the thorough efficiency of this particular description of 

 tram appliances, for iii the cslimation of experienced 

 men they are truly "ahead of all competition," and are 

 winniiurfor themselves a good name wherever tried. 

 So far they b.ive been mostly limited to plantatioii.s, but 

 anywhere that large industries are conducted, nnd heavy 

 portage is an item, they can be turned to good account, 

 as for instance in viney.irds, arrrowroot plantaion.s, olive 

 yards. manufaetories, brickyards, mines, <piarries, forests, 

 iir earthworks. The cost of good labour-saving appli- 

 ances is a mere tritle when compared with their etticieney 

 and reliability, and a true economist will not lose 

 siglit of this.— /'/(i(i/>)' o)i(/ fnriiici-. [We should think 

 those tramways might be useful on at least the low 

 country tea plantations in Ceylon— El).] 



