﻿354 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  starving 
  or 
  of 
  eating 
  whatever 
  can 
  be 
  consumed 
  regardless 
  of 
  prej- 
  

   udice, 
  it 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  say. 
  But 
  the 
  fact 
  is 
  that 
  in 
  China 
  more 
  kinds 
  

   of 
  plants 
  are 
  eaten 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  west. 
  Famines 
  have 
  occurred 
  in 
  

   the 
  west, 
  but 
  never 
  was 
  there 
  written 
  outside 
  of 
  China 
  a 
  book 
  telling 
  

   what 
  to 
  eat 
  in 
  times 
  of 
  famine, 
  or 
  a 
  "famine 
  herbal," 
  such 
  as 
  that 
  

   written 
  by 
  Chu 
  Hsiao 
  in 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  century 
  under 
  the 
  title 
  "Chiu 
  

   huang 
  pen 
  ts'ao." 
  This 
  book 
  has 
  been 
  issued 
  in 
  many 
  editions, 
  sev- 
  

   eral 
  in 
  Japan, 
  and 
  large 
  parts 
  have 
  been 
  translated 
  into 
  western 
  

   languages. 
  

  

  Intensive 
  agriculture 
  is 
  probably 
  more 
  highly 
  developed 
  in 
  China 
  

   than 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  Throughout 
  its 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   years 
  of 
  growth 
  methods 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  that 
  derive 
  from 
  the 
  soil 
  

   almost 
  the 
  last 
  possible 
  ounce 
  of 
  food, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  leave 
  

   the 
  land 
  capable 
  of 
  growing 
  more 
  crops 
  indefinitely. 
  Of 
  course 
  

   modern 
  scientific 
  agricultural 
  methods 
  can 
  make 
  and 
  are 
  making 
  

   valuable 
  contributions 
  to 
  Chinese 
  farming 
  and 
  furnish 
  explanation 
  

   for 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  empirical 
  methods 
  used 
  in 
  China, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  the 
  west 
  is 
  learning 
  much 
  from 
  the 
  east. 
  Certain 
  food 
  plants 
  

   have 
  long 
  been 
  grown 
  in 
  China 
  which 
  the 
  west 
  is 
  only 
  beginning 
  

   to 
  appreciate 
  (pi. 
  9, 
  fig. 
  2), 
  and 
  we 
  are 
  discovering 
  there 
  methods 
  of 
  

   storing 
  and 
  marketing 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  well 
  consider. 
  For 
  example, 
  

   in 
  1924 
  P. 
  H. 
  Dorsett, 
  agricultural 
  explorer 
  for 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Department 
  of 
  Agriculture, 
  studied 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  the 
  methods 
  

   used 
  near 
  Peiping 
  in 
  handling 
  the 
  large 
  persimmon 
  crop. 
  The 
  fruits 
  

   mature 
  throughout 
  the 
  fall. 
  When 
  fresh, 
  these 
  large 
  tomato-sized 
  

   orchard 
  fruits 
  are 
  too 
  full 
  of 
  tannin 
  to 
  be 
  eaten. 
  Hence, 
  the 
  first 
  

   of 
  the 
  crop 
  is 
  carefully 
  treated 
  in 
  a 
  hot-water 
  bath 
  for 
  about 
  12 
  hours, 
  

   which 
  process 
  removes 
  the 
  tannin 
  and 
  renders 
  the 
  fruits 
  readily 
  

   marketable. 
  The 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  crop, 
  however, 
  matures 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  fall. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  and 
  south-central 
  United 
  States 
  have 
  

   learned 
  that 
  persimmons 
  picked 
  before 
  the 
  frosts 
  of 
  early 
  winter 
  will 
  

   pucker 
  one's 
  mouth, 
  but 
  that 
  those 
  gathered 
  later 
  are 
  good. 
  This 
  

   fact 
  has 
  never 
  been 
  used 
  for 
  commercial 
  exploitation 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  

   persimmon, 
  but 
  the 
  Chinese 
  have 
  applied 
  the 
  principle 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  

   scale 
  and 
  millions 
  of 
  persimmons 
  are 
  stored 
  in 
  special 
  outdoor 
  beds 
  

   where 
  they 
  quickly 
  freeze 
  (pi. 
  10, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  Not 
  only 
  are 
  they 
  thus 
  

   rendered 
  delicious 
  by 
  the 
  removal 
  of 
  the 
  tannin, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  also 
  

   preserved, 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  marketed 
  throughout 
  the 
  long 
  winter, 
  

   being 
  thawed 
  out 
  only 
  as 
  needed. 
  Frozen 
  or 
  frosted 
  foods 
  in 
  the 
  

   west 
  are 
  of 
  very 
  recent 
  development 
  and 
  require 
  complicated 
  arti- 
  

   ficial 
  refrigeration. 
  The 
  Chinese 
  industry 
  resulted 
  from 
  the 
  careful 
  

   development 
  of 
  the 
  right 
  varieties 
  or 
  forms 
  of 
  persimmons, 
  grafted 
  

   on 
  the 
  proper 
  stock, 
  and 
  grown 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  where 
  natural 
  freezing 
  

   is 
  possible. 
  Also 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  crop 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  so 
  great 
  as 
  to 
  

  

  