I rt 



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Uodtof 



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Manure. 



, \ ..\le i perpendicular piece of wood 

 (lie beam, across the top of 

 .i:iother piece it pi.. . end of 



'cted 



with the trace'. The harrowt are of diffei 

 accon: '.5 arc of a greater or smaller 



but th> i commonly used to smooth '.in- 



Hit, composed of planks joined cl 



together, and anr.rj with three rows of teeth. Upon 



:ees himself, and directs 

 . by a cord attached to a rin^c 

 ig!i th nostrils of th- 'ti-mnL 

 Chines firmer never suff-.-rs his ground to re- 

 main in fallow : and yet freqarotlj raise- from it two 

 cr -ps in the seaion. In t!ie southern provinces, they 

 procure two cr: pi of ricr. sowing the second as soon as 

 . it it gathered. Sometimes, after a cn>ji of cotton 

 or indigo, t:ity ow the field with wheat, which is ready 

 to be cut in the month* of May or June in the following 

 year. Sometimes, they plant a row of beans between the 

 drills of wheat, which ripen after the win at is cut down ; 

 nd their second crops are generally, l-.ii.ilj, beans, sweet 



cs, salads, or yams. 



The soil, which is generally loose, finely, free from 

 tonet, and easily laboured, requires much manure, which 

 il extremely sc-rce in the country, as vt ry few domestic 

 animal', and scarcely any sheep or cattle, are reared by 

 the farmer. In the northern provinces, indeed, wliere 

 humid cattle are more numerous, the husb ndman is 

 supplied with dung a* in Europe ; b: t, even in these 

 quarters, the cattle are not provisioned in such a man er 

 at to produce much manure. As the Chinese make nttle 

 use of milk or butter, they are not car. fu! lo tupply 

 their cows with green food. They do not cultivate any 

 of the artificial grasses ; but feed their cattle chiefly on 

 chaff and straw during winter, and in summer upon the 

 rank natural herbage, which grow in the ditches, or 

 on the common reeds, which cover large tracts of swampy 

 'i in many districts. In this dearth of ni mure, 

 ; ak'.- great use of compost*, in which the principal 

 . ent is human ordure. This and other excrements 

 are collected with great care, wherever thty can be found. 

 Large eanhen jars are sunk in the ground around the 

 houses for collecting urine, and every kind of putrid 

 matter. The old men and children iboul the villages 

 may be seen g"ing their rounds, with r.ikes and baskets, 

 gathering filth of every description. The blime and mud is 

 dragged up from the bottom ot the rivers an<] c^nal 

 is particularly applied as manure to the cotton fields. 

 The companies ,f soldiers and porters, who occasionally 

 top cu their mute for necessary purposes, are faithfully 

 attended to their places of retirement by these dung- 

 hunters. The barbers even carry a -mall bag along with 

 them, to collect the hair, which they shave from the 

 heads and faces of their customers, and whic'u is ac- 

 counted a very useful manure. Lime, burnt bones, de- 

 cayed wood, putrid plants, and every similar substance, 

 are carefully collected for the same purpose. All these 

 various cxcremenlitious and putrid matter* are thrown 

 into large holes in the fields, lim-d with cement ; reduced 

 almost to a liquid state by the addition of urine or wa- 

 ter ; and then poured, rather than spread, upon the soil. 

 Manure is even considered as an article of c cnmerce, and 

 is transported in different forms to considerable distances. 

 Bozti of a particular construction, and filled with every 

 tprcies of ordure, may be seen passing .ilong the rivers 

 and canal* ; and their cargoes are somt times made up in 

 tufficicmly curiou, shapet. " Amon^ thr different com- 

 modities for the supply of the capital," says Mr Barrow, 



" we observed an article of commerce that puzzled u Ajrricwl. 

 not a little to find out for what it was intended. It con- ' ' 

 tiiti'd of dry br.iwn eak-s, not much larger but thicker 

 than those we call crumputs. A close examination, how- 

 rered the nature of their composition, 

 which, it seem, d, was a mixture of ev ry kind .,[ filth and 

 excrementitious sub-lances, moulded into their pi 

 shape, and dried in the sun. In this form, they arc car- 

 rie.l to the c.ipital, asarlicl* s of merchandize, where 

 meet with a ready niaikel from the gardeners in .lie vi- 

 cinity ; who. after dissolvi , u r them lor 

 manure." In order to compensate for this delieic..cy of 

 manure, the Chinrse farmers an d in 

 Working the vd and u.ixmg it \\ilh extr.me.ni matters, 

 Mi.-li as marl and stiff clay in light sandy grounds, and 

 gravel ,/r sand in strong clayey .oils. 



The most prevailing c-mp in China is rice, especially <7rain< ru!< 

 in the southern provinces, and wherever there is a tuffi- t|val "l- 

 cieut command of water. Next to roc, barley is most 

 :ly cultivated ; wheat is very common, particular- 

 ly in the not them districts ; and the other grain? are 

 buck-wheat, millei, maize, peas and beans. i'he prin- 

 cipal plants and shrubs, cultivated as crops, are the 

 sui^ar cane, cotton, hemp, lint, tobacco, indigo, the tea- 

 tree, the mulberry -tree, the varnish-tree, the camphor- 

 tree, the tallow-tree, the cinnamon-tree, &c. In the Ii' Us 

 also are cultivated a variety of pot-herbs, particularly a 

 plant called pe-tsai, which is a species of beet, carrots, 

 which are remarkably large, radishes, turnips, mustard, 

 earthen pistachios, yams, and sweet potatoes. 



The fir-t crop of rice is generally sown in March, and S<as"n an* 

 the second in July, according to the rains. The rice, be ' 

 fore being .own, is Steeped in pure water; the other *" 

 grain* in lime-waUr i r urine, and this last is .- :id to have 

 the effect of preservu ^ , that of turnip, 



from insects. In the n:o ".h ol 1-Ybru.uy, according to 

 the observations of M. L)e Guignes, the cr .ps were ap- 

 pearing above ground. In March and April, the bar- 

 ley >as well advanced, the sugar-cane a foot above the 

 surface, the oil shrubs in flower and beginning to riuen, 

 arid the hemp above a foot and a half in height ; but the 

 tallow a..d muibeny trees, at the same period, were 

 scarcely in leaf. 



In small patches of ground near the houses, where 

 they study great neatnes^, the grain is often planted by 

 dibbling ; generally however by drilling, as a more expe- 

 ditious method ; and rarely by broad cast, which is n nfier 

 so saving of the seed, nor so well suited for the clearing 

 away of weeds. In sowing nee, they sometimes pre- 

 pare a portion of ground as a seed-bed, which they cover 

 with the >;rain in the broad cast manner nt sowing , and, 

 when the plants have risen to the height of six or seven 

 inches, they transplant them in r >ws into a field, which 

 has been well levelled and watered. According to ano- 

 ther method, the soil is well prepared and moistened* 

 and the rice planted by the dibble in holes at the <1>9- 

 tance of six or seven inches from each other, n:: < ..ch 

 of which several grains are put; but this pi.in rcjui.es 

 a better soil, and consumes a greater qua: tity ot seed. 

 Sometimes, wheat it planted in the s.imc manner. In 

 some of the northern pi . sowing machine is us>-d 



in the lighter soils, which is guided by two labourers, 

 and which opens the drill and drops the seed at the 

 same time. Great care is used to clean the crops of rice 

 from weedn, and to supply them with water ; and some- 

 times they sprinkle powdered lime over the plants, to 

 destroy the vermin, and to render them more pro- 

 due.. 



The stalks of the rice, wheat, and barley, seldom 



