CHAPTER VI 



AGRICULTURE 



The Principal Food-Stuff Crops 



THE Chinese might appropriately be termed a " Nation 

 of Shopkeepers," yet, in spite of their commercial 

 enterprise, the agricultural industry is the backbone of 

 the nation. With a vast population to support, every possible 

 inch of land has been brought under cultivation, and prodigious 

 efforts have been made to obtain the greatest returns from the 

 soil. In spite of it all, millions are ever on the verge of starva- 

 tion, and almost annually either drought or flood brings famine 

 to some part of the Empire. 



Landed property is held in clans or families as much as 

 possible and is not entailed, nor are overgrown estates frequent. 

 The land is all held directly from the Crown, no freehold being 

 acknowledged. The conditions of common tenure are the 

 payment of an annual tax, the fee for alienation, with a money 

 composition for personal service to the Government. The 

 proprietors of land record their names in the district and take 

 out an original deed (called " red deed ") which secures them 

 in possession as long as the ground tax is paid. This sum 

 varies very much according to the fertility, location, and nature 

 of the land, but is nowhere heavy or severe. Naturally, good 

 rice-land pays the heaviest tax. The paternal estate, and the 

 property thereon, descends to the eldest son, but his brothers 

 can remain upon it with their families and devise their portion' 

 in perpetuo to their children, or an amicable composition may 

 be made ; daughters never inherit, nor can an adopted son of 

 another clan succeed. A mortgagee must enter into possession 

 of property and make himself responsible for the payment 

 of taxes levied thereon. The enclosure of recent alluvial 



