BOTANICAL STUDIES IN ASIA— HITCHCOCK. 379 



his small plot of ground worked by himself and family, can not 

 utilize this open country, and farms, so far as observed in the parts 

 of China visited, are confined to the valleys. 



The industry and efficiency of the small farmer is remarkable, 

 The land is cultivated intensively almost to the last square foot. 

 It is an impressive sight to see the rice, field after field for miles, 

 with a perfect stand of even growth, a maximum yield, every 

 stalk of which has been set out by hand and will be harvested 

 by hand. Nothing approaching such perfection can be seen in our 

 great wheat-growing regions. We lead the world in the amount 

 of product per man but China is far ahead of us in the product 

 per unit of land. 



At the time of the visit to the Yangtse Valley in August the 

 river was in flood and many of the rice fields were inundated. 

 The rice was being harvested, nevertheless, but with difficulty. Men 

 and women were wading in the water to their waists or to their 

 armpits, cutting the rice, much of which was submerged, tying it 

 in bundles and placing the bundles in boats. Later the bundles were 

 supported on the tops of poles, three or four crossed and sup- 

 ported like the frame of a wigwam, the whole standing in shallow 

 water or upon the dikes between the fields. Such things as this 

 show the relative value of food and labor. 



The methods for raising water used in irrigating the fields are 

 of interest though no special study was made of these. A simple 

 method is by a bucket worked by two men. The bucket is sup- 

 ported at the middle of a rope the ends of which are held by 

 the two men standing, say, 10 feet apart. The bucket is swung to 

 dip in the canal at the lower level and by a dexterous swing and 

 a single continuous motion is brought up to the higher level, a foot 

 or two above and emptied. The rhythmic continuous motion of 

 dipping and emptying is beautiful to look upon. There is also in 

 common use a simple machine on the plan of a chain pump. A 

 series of floats, a box about 6 or 8 feet long through which the 

 lower line of floats carries the water, two sprocket wheels carrying 

 the chain of floats, the upper of which is attached to a horizontal 

 axle furnishing the power, these are the chief points of the ma- 

 chine. The horizontal axle has 3 or 4 series of projections serving 

 for foot rests upon each of which series stands a man or woman. 

 Holding to a suitable support the men turn these foot rests by 

 climbing upon them in a treadmill fashion. In the Yangtse Valley 

 similar machines were operated by water buffaloes or carabaos 

 turning a horizontal geared wheel. One could see here scattered 

 thickly over the landscape the little sheds under each of which 

 was a carabao patiently walking round and round. 



