AGRICULTURE 57 



foreigners have styled it, is more like a huge cos lettuce than 

 a cabbage. This kind is grown everywhere, but attains its 

 greatest perfection in the colder parts of China. In the 

 Yangtsze Valley it is best when grown as a winter crop. Another 

 striking variety is the white-ribbed cabbage, " Kin-ta-ts'ai," 

 which is said to be peculiar to Szechuan. In addition to 

 these some half-dozen other varieties are cultivated. Cabbages 

 are eaten fresh or are preserved by salting and drying in the 

 sun. From a European standpoint none is worth growing, 

 being so very inferior in flavour to our own. The Roman 

 Catholic priests have introduced the common European 

 cabbage, but though its culture has spread widely the Chinese 

 much prefer their own varieties. While the Chinese cabbages 

 are all really referable to Brassica campestris, it is convenient 

 to group them under B. chinensis. As a winter crop green 

 kale, " Kan-kan-ts'ai," and dark-red kale, " Ts'ai-tai " are 

 cultivated through the Yangtsze Valley. The young shoots of 

 Brassica juncea and B. campestris, var. oUifera, are also used 

 in the same way as kale. 



The Chinese cultivate a great many gourds for food, the 

 whole cucurbitaceous family being known under the general 

 name of " Kua." Some are eaten raw, and others cooked. 

 The male flowers, too, are eaten by the peasantry. The seeds 

 ol the water-melon are esteemed a great delicacy. They are 

 sHghtly roasted, and are consumed in enormous quantities ; 

 no banquet is complete without them, and over their gossip 

 in tea-shops or restaurants, scholars and coolies alike regale 

 themselves with these delicious morsels. Preserved in sugar, 

 melon-seeds form a favourite sweetmeat. As a summer crop 

 throughout the Yangtsze Valley the following cucurbitaceous 

 plants are commonly cultivated : Cucurbita Citrullus, " Hsi- 

 kua" ; C. Pepo, " Hsi-hu-lu" ; C. moschata, " Huo-kua " ; C. 

 maxima, " Nan-kua" ; C. ovifera, " Sun-kua" ; Cucumis Melo, 

 "Tien-kua"; C. sativus, " Huang-kua " ; Benincasa cerifera, 

 " Tung-kua " ; Lagenaria vulgaris, var. clavata, " Hu-tzu-kua " ; 

 L. leucantha, var. longis, " Ts'ai-kua." Wlien very young the 

 fruit of Momordica charantia, " Ku-kua," is eaten, and when 

 old is used as medicine. Luffa cylindrica, " Ssu-kua," is cooked 

 and eaten when young ; when old the fibre is esteemed as 



