THE TCHOU-MA, OH CHINESE I'LAX. 237 



I now lay before the public. After reading the following ac- 

 count of the cultivation of the plant in question, it will be readily 

 seen, by those who are competent judges of the matter, that the 

 supposed want of success was owing to nothing but ignorance 

 of the care and delicate treatment which are necessary for the 

 culture of the plant now before us. Tlie way in which its 

 valuable threads are peeled, steeped, and bleached, is, as will be 

 seen, described by the Chinese authors with a precision and 

 minuteness amply sufficient to enable any person to pursue this 

 new branch of industry in our own country. Until a new supply 

 of seeds is received from China, roots or young plants of the 

 Urtica nivea may be obtained from the Garden of Plants, and be 

 propagated in the way mentioned below, and thus may a sub- 

 stance be given to our manufacturers which will, in their hands, 

 be made into a tissue as soft as silk, and as fine as but stronger 

 and tougher than the best French cambric. 



Cultivation of the Tchou-ma (^Urtica nivea). 

 (Imperial Treatise of Chinese Agriculture, lib. Ixxviii. fol. 3.) 



For the purpose of sowing the tchou-ma in the 3rd or 4th 

 month, a light sandy soil is preferred. The seeds are sown in a 

 garden, or where tiiere is no garden, in a piece of ground near 

 a river or a well. The ground is dug once or twice, then beds 

 1 foot broad and 4 feet long are made ; and after that the earth 

 is again dug. The ground is then pressed down either with tlie 

 foot or the back of a spade ; when it is a little firm, its surface 

 is raked smooth. The next night the beds are watered, and on 

 the following morning the earth is loosened with a small-toothed 

 rake, and tlien again levelled. 



After that half a ching (4 pints and a half) of moist earth and 

 a ho (one pint) of seeds are taken and well mixed together. 

 One ho of seeds is enough for 6 or 7 beds. After having 

 sown the seeds it is not necessary that they should be covered 

 with earth ; indeed, if tliat were done, they would not germinate. 



The next thing to be done is to procure 4 sticks, sharp at one 

 end, and to place them in the ground in a slanting position, 2 on 

 one side of the bed and 2 on the opposite side ; they are for the 

 purpose of supporting a sort of little roof 2 or 3 feet high, and 

 covered with a thin mat. 



In the fifth or sixth month, when the rays of the sun are 

 powerful, this light mat is covered with a tliick layer of straw. 

 If this precaution were not adopted, the young plants would be 

 destroyed by the lieat. 



Before tiie seed begins to germinate, or when the young leaves 

 first appear, the beds must not be watered. By means of a broom 



