THE MORE IMPORTANT PLANT PRODUCTS £3 



Cotton-cultivation is a comparatively recent industry in 

 China, having been introduced early in the eleventh century 

 A.D., from Khoten. It met with strong opposition from those 

 interested in the production of silk, China-grass; and other fibres, 

 and was not fairly established until some time during the Yuan 

 (Mongol) Dynasty (a.d. 1206-1386), when a public-spirited 

 woman. Lady Hwang, distributed seeds throughout Kiangan, 

 now the great cotton region of China. Chinese cotton has a 

 notoriously short staple, but is strong and durable. It has 

 undoubtedly become exhausted from lack of any attempt at 

 seed-selection and from long cultivation in the same regions. 

 Cotton-cultivation should receive early attention from the 

 new Government, and seeds of standard varieties from India, 

 Egypt, America, and elsewhere might be secured and experi- 

 mentally grown. There is no question but that China could 

 produce cotton infinitely superior to the present product 

 if new and suitable varieties were obtained and properly 

 cultivated. 



Very little cotton, " Mien-hwa," is grown in Western 

 China; and cotton-yarn and cloths are the great import 

 into Szechuan. The value of foreign imports into Chung- 

 king is about Tls. 20,000,000, five-sixths of which is made 

 up of cotton manufactures, the bulk of which comes from 

 India. 



Before the importation of mineral-oil from foreign countries 

 became general, the only lamps in use were vessels filled with 

 vegetable-oil and fitted with rush-wicks. These " rush- 

 lights " are still in common use in the west, more especially 

 among the poorer classes. The wick consists of the pith of 

 J uncus effusus, known as " Teng-ts'ao," which is widely 

 cultivated for this purpose. The plant grows 3 to 6 feet tall 

 and is also largely employed in the manufacture of matting 

 and mats used under bed-mattresses and on divans. It is 

 expressly cultivated for this purpose in parts of Szechuan, 

 the principal seat of the matting industry being Sui Fu, where 

 both whole and split rushes are used. In Yunnan Scirpus 

 lacustris, " Pu-chih-ts'ao," which produces stems 6 to 8 feet 

 tall, cylindrical at base, gradually tapering upwards and 

 becoming obtusely triangular near the summit, is used for mat- 



