AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY IN CHINA 1015 



vited me to come up and assist in the establishment of this nursery. 

 The magistrate was very pleased, and sent word that he, too, wanted to 

 establish an official nursery, and desired that I take up, when going, as 

 much seed and as many young trees for his nursery as I did for the 

 colonization nursery. 



On the day arranged for settling on the site of the nursery, Mr. 

 Wen, as host, went to Ta-an, a temple that had been part of the grant 

 to the branch colony, and which is its administrative center. After 

 riding about and walking over the proposed sites, we shared the good 

 things provided by Mr. Wen. The arrangement arrived at is that we 

 have a joint nursery close into Ta-an, half of the expense to be borne 

 by the official and half by our branch colony, and that Mr. Yu, who has 

 been in charge at Ta-an, be also in charge of the nursery. This, of 

 course, was satisfactory, and even flattering, to us, as it expressed what 

 confidence our friend, the magistrate, put in us. It is also a proof that 

 he considers our work a success. 



The next item we considered was the further grant of land for 40 or 

 50 more families. I should have said that all the local gentry had 

 gathered to meet the official, and to help in disposing of the viands and 

 other discussions and decisions. Though we were so successful in the 

 establishment of a nursery, we made poor progress in securing any con- 

 sensus of opinion regarding the opening of a new mountain, though 

 there are many lying waste in the vicinity. What was the matter? 

 Well, the real reason was never hinted at by any one in the meeting, 

 but here it is : 



When we first started the colony, every colonist that was accepted 

 had to have as guarantor a farmer in the district. The farmers recom- 

 mended refugees that had come to the place perhaps one or two years 

 previously, and had proved their worth as servants. We also accepted 

 local families that had no lands. Everything went on well till the har- 

 vest time came, and as these landless poor were now harvesting their 

 own crops there was a dearth of labor, and wages jumped to double 

 the price they had been before we started the colony. 



People from outside, however, gradually filtered in again, but wages 

 never have come down again to the sweat-system level they were at be- 

 fore our colony was planted there. This, of course, is the very object for 

 which the colonization was established, and if we could only be success- 

 ful in getting families on to all the vacant lands in China human flesh 

 and blood would not be cheaper than horse or mule flesh and blood, as 

 it now is. We would see conveyances on Shanghai streets hauled no 

 longer by human beings, but by animals, and the ricksha-coolie problem 



