54 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



In the Yangtsze Valley maize is always a summer crop, and 

 two crops are frequently harvested. In the mountains its 

 cultivation extends up to 8000 feet, and in exceptionally favour- 

 able districts even higher. Green corn is really a delicious 

 vegetable, and ought to be used in this country. The Chinese, 

 however, do not employ it extensively in this form. When 

 ripe the sheaths of the cobs are folded back, exposing the grain. 

 They are then tied in bunches and suspended from the roofs of 

 houses, where they can be kept dry. The grain is ground 

 and made into meal-cakes ; it is also used for making spirit. 

 From the culms sugar is sometimes extracted, but their chief 

 use is for fuel. 



False Millet [Sorghum vulgar e), the " Kao-liang " or " Hsu- 

 tzu " of the Chinese, is largely used for making wine. It is 

 cultivated generally throughout central and Western China, but 

 not so extensively as in the northern parts of China, and notably 

 Manchuria. The largest areas I noted were on the plateaux 

 of Yunnan, the plain of Chengtu, and the fluviatile areas of the 

 Min and Fou Rivers. Its altitudinal limit is about the same as 

 that of maize, and, like this latter, it is always a summer crop. 

 Two distinct varieties are grown, one with purple, the other with 

 yellowish " heads." It is occasionally employed as food, more 

 particularly in mountainous districts, but 90 per cent, of it 

 is used for making wine. 



Other Millets met with in cultivation are Panicummiliaceum, 

 " Chan-tzu " ; Setaria italica, " Hsiu-ku " ; and Panicum crus- 

 galli, var. frumentaceum, " Lung-tsao-ku," but not in large 

 quantities. The grain is used in making cakes and for feeding 

 bird-pets. The cereal commonly known as Job's Tears, " Ta- 

 wan-tzu ' ' [Coix lachryma) , is cultivated in small patches through- 

 out central and Western China. Though occasionally used as 

 food in the form of gruel, " Job's tears " are chiefly valued as 

 medicine. They are supposed to possess tonic and diuretic 

 properties, and are administered in cases of phthisis and dropsy. 

 Of Buckwheat two species are commonly cultivated, namely, 

 Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tataricum, the " T'ien-ch'iao-me " 

 and " K'u-ch'iao-me " respectively of the Chinese. These 

 constitute a most important crop, especially in the highlands. 

 Under favourable climatic conditions two crops are harvested. 



