﻿PLANTS 
  OF 
  CHINA 
  — 
  WALKER 
  355 
  

  

  flood 
  the 
  facilities 
  for 
  early 
  treatment 
  by 
  hot 
  water, 
  or 
  to 
  flood 
  the 
  

   early 
  market, 
  nor 
  too 
  great 
  to 
  be 
  consumed 
  before 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  spring 
  

   and 
  summer 
  finds 
  unsold 
  stocks 
  in 
  the 
  storage 
  beds. 
  

  

  So 
  it 
  is 
  with 
  many 
  other 
  food 
  plants 
  and 
  methods. 
  We 
  in 
  the 
  

   west, 
  handicapped 
  by 
  our 
  prejudices 
  of 
  taste, 
  have 
  only 
  probed 
  the 
  

   surface 
  of 
  Chinese 
  agriculture 
  for 
  new 
  food 
  plants, 
  or 
  new 
  forms 
  of 
  

   old 
  ones, 
  or 
  methods 
  of 
  handling 
  them. 
  Of 
  course 
  the 
  major 
  diffi- 
  

   culty 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  labor 
  is 
  cheap 
  in 
  China 
  and 
  agricultural 
  

   methods 
  give 
  scant 
  consideration 
  to 
  the 
  human 
  efforts 
  expended, 
  

   whereas 
  in 
  western 
  agriculture 
  labor 
  must 
  be 
  saved 
  at 
  every 
  turn. 
  

  

  Next 
  to 
  their 
  use 
  as 
  foods, 
  plants 
  are 
  sought 
  by 
  man 
  the 
  world 
  

   over 
  for 
  their 
  medicinal 
  virtues. 
  In 
  China 
  food 
  and 
  medicine 
  are 
  

   closely 
  linked, 
  and 
  a 
  skillful 
  housewife 
  of 
  the 
  wealthier 
  classes 
  keeps 
  

   her 
  family 
  in 
  health 
  by 
  the 
  right 
  selection 
  of 
  foods 
  from 
  the 
  great 
  

   range 
  available, 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  the 
  administration 
  of 
  drugs. 
  A 
  

   Chinese 
  pharmacopoeia 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  food 
  plants. 
  It 
  contains 
  likewise 
  

   a 
  far 
  larger 
  number 
  of 
  drug 
  plants 
  than 
  do 
  our 
  western 
  medicinal 
  

   handbooks, 
  which, 
  indeed, 
  with 
  each 
  new 
  issue 
  list 
  fewer 
  and 
  fewer 
  

   plants 
  as 
  sources 
  of 
  useful 
  drugs. 
  Many 
  of 
  these 
  Chinese 
  drugs 
  

   and 
  their 
  plant 
  origins 
  have 
  been 
  examined 
  by 
  modern 
  scientific 
  

   methods 
  and 
  some 
  have 
  proved 
  of 
  real 
  value, 
  as 
  the 
  ma-huang, 
  the 
  

   desert 
  plant 
  Ephedra 
  sinica, 
  which 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  used 
  in 
  China 
  as 
  a 
  

   haemostatic 
  and 
  for 
  the 
  treatment 
  of 
  asthma, 
  and 
  only 
  relatively 
  

   recently 
  adopted 
  into 
  western 
  medicine. 
  Other 
  Chinese 
  drugs 
  have 
  

   proved 
  of 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  value, 
  such 
  as 
  ginseng, 
  long 
  valued 
  highly 
  

   in 
  China 
  as 
  a 
  giver 
  of 
  fertility. 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  western 
  science 
  ean 
  de- 
  

   termine, 
  its 
  virtues 
  are 
  purely 
  psychological, 
  and 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  not 
  

   included 
  in 
  our 
  pharmacopoeias. 
  However, 
  only 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  Chi- 
  

   nese 
  medicine 
  has 
  as 
  yet 
  been 
  scratched 
  by 
  modern 
  science. 
  

  

  Plants 
  as 
  givers 
  of 
  building 
  material 
  probably 
  rank 
  in 
  importance 
  

   ahead 
  of 
  their 
  use 
  for 
  medicine. 
  The 
  supply 
  of 
  wood 
  exerts 
  a 
  pro- 
  

   found 
  influence 
  on 
  Chinese 
  life, 
  for 
  in 
  western 
  China, 
  where 
  the 
  

   population 
  is 
  thinner 
  and 
  wood 
  more 
  abundant, 
  we 
  find 
  it 
  much 
  used 
  

   in 
  house 
  construction, 
  but 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  China, 
  mud 
  or 
  bricks, 
  

   either 
  kiln-burned 
  or 
  sun-dried, 
  are 
  used, 
  the 
  mud 
  plastered 
  over 
  

   kaoliang 
  stalks 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  or 
  over 
  bamboo 
  or 
  other 
  materials 
  in 
  

   the 
  south. 
  In 
  the 
  latter 
  region 
  bamboo 
  frames 
  covered 
  with 
  palm- 
  

   leaf 
  thatch 
  are 
  often 
  erected 
  for 
  temporary 
  buildings. 
  Few 
  who 
  

   have 
  seen 
  the 
  construction 
  work 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  cities, 
  especially 
  

   in 
  the 
  central 
  and 
  southern 
  parts, 
  have 
  failed 
  to 
  marvel 
  at 
  the 
  

   strength, 
  magnitude, 
  and 
  skillful 
  fabrication 
  of 
  the 
  scaffolding 
  erected 
  

   by 
  lashing 
  together 
  bamboo 
  or 
  pine 
  or 
  fir 
  poles 
  with 
  seemingly 
  frail 
  

   strips 
  of 
  bamboo 
  and 
  with 
  no 
  use 
  of 
  nails. 
  The 
  lack 
  of 
  wood 
  for 
  ties 
  

   or 
  sleepers 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  handicap 
  in 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  railroads 
  in 
  China. 
  

  

  