294 CHINESE HUSBANDRY. 



dry. The foot, which comes from the lamps 

 in which this oil is burnt, is ufed in making 

 the well known Indian ink. 



Commonly the feeds of cotton (which they 

 call minfoo) fucceed to thofe oily feeds. The 

 foil for it is prepared as before, and the feed 

 is likewife put into the fame forts of narrow 

 beds, a foot afunder ; it muft be obferved, 

 that according as the plants either thrive or 

 fpread more or. lefs, the beds likewife are 

 made either narrower or wider ; and alfo ci- 

 ther further from or nearer to each other. 

 They are fown in April t over each feed they 

 throw a handful or two of afhes of the oil 

 plant or of other plants : and this is ail the 

 manure the field has at this time. They are 

 watered in dry days till the fourth leaf ap- 

 pears. Warmth and rain change the flowers, 

 v hich appear in July, into pods in Auguft, which 

 open in dry weather, and Ihew the cotton; they 

 are then broken off, the feed feparated from 

 the cotton, and preferved for the next year. 

 Too much wet is hurtful to the cotton plants, 

 both while they grow and while they ripen ; 

 and the cotton capfules hang mouldering on 

 the (talks during a continual rain: and for this 

 i°eafon they feldom have fo plentiful a crop of 



this 



