238 CHINESE CULTIVATION. 



dipped in water the roof of matting is wetted so as to keep the 

 ground underneath moist. At night the roof is removed in order 

 that the young plants may catch the dew. 



As soon as the first leaves have appeared, if parasitical plants 

 appear they must be immediately pulled up. When the plant 

 is an inch or two high, the roof may be laid aside. If the 

 earth is rather dry, it must be slightly moistened to the depth of 

 about 3 inches. 



A stifFer soil is now chosen and thrown into beds to which 

 the young plants are to be transferred. The following night 

 the first beds, in which the young plants are, are to be watered, 

 the next morning the new beds are to be watered also. The 

 young plants are then dug up with a spade, care being taken to 

 keep a small ball of earth round their roots, and are pricked 

 out at a distance of 4 inches the one from the other. The ground 

 is often hoed. 



At the end of 3 or 5 days the earth must be watered, and 

 again at the end of 10 days, 15 days, and 20 days. 



After the 10th month the plants must be covered with a foot 

 of fresh horse, ass, or cow dung. 



Same subject. 



(Extract from the General Treatise on Agriculture, intituled ' Nong- 

 tching-tsiouen-chou.' ) 



"When the tchou-ma is cultivated for the first time it is raised 

 from seed. The roots of the seedling plants give of themselves 

 new shoots. At the end of a few years the roots cross each 

 other and intertwine, when the stems must be separated and 

 replanted. 



At the present day it is very common, in the countries of 

 'An-king and Kien-ning, to disentangle the roots with a knife, 

 and to replant them. Those who cannot procure seeds follow 

 the plan adopted for obtaining young mulberry trees from layers. 



This plan is a very quick one. 



In those countries, however, where there are no roots of the 

 tchou-7na, and where it is not easy to procure them from other 

 places, the seed is had recourse to. 



As soon as the young plants are a few inches high they are 

 watered with a mixture of equal quantities of water and liquid 

 manure. Immediately after the stems are cut the ground must 

 be watered, and this ought to be done at night or on a cloudy 

 day ; for if the plants were watered in the sunshine, they would 

 rust. Great care must be taken not to make use of pig's dung. 



The tchou-ma may be planted every month ; but it is necessary 

 that the ground be moist. 



