62 



A REGISTER OF THE WEATHER AT SIIANGIIAE 



Obs. — The weather of the past Aveek has been fine, if we except two 

 days. The wheat crops look well and are fast approaching- maturity — 

 the unbearded variety more particularly, but also some of the bearded 

 is deficient in the size of the panicles. The average temperature of the 

 week has been 61*6° ; that of the corresponding- week in 1850, 69^. 



Week ending 22nd May, 1851. 



Obs. — Much has been accomplished in the fields by the pea.santry 

 during the last phase of the moon, which has been accompanied by an 

 almost unclouded sky. At no season of the year is there greater cause 

 to admire the Chinese husbandry than at this, the time for sowing 

 cotton. The art with which the four-pronged implement of agriculture, 

 half pitchfork, half hoe, is wielded, so as to act as both spade and rake, 

 calls down our admiration. The neatness with which the beds are pre- 

 pared, and the seed sown and trodden down, is one of the circumstances 

 in which has originated the title to an almost fabulous superiority of the 

 natives of this empire over Europeans in the cultivation of the soil. 

 Some of the cotton sown only a few days since is already appearing 

 above ground. The paddy intended for transplantation is now a couple 

 of inches high. In some fields the bearded wheat is nearly ready for 

 cutting, and the ears of the unbearded variety are improving in size. 

 The average temperature of the past week has been 707'^ ; that of the 

 corresponding week last year 70-3°. 



