SO AGRICULTURE IN THE AXCIENT WORLD. 



ish. the people and lay down the best rules, and let the same be 

 published with descriptive plates. Let the father instruct his 

 child, the husband his wife, then shall we see men at the plow, 

 and women at the loom; no laborer will be unemployed, and no 

 resource of the soil be lost.&quot; Still higher patronage is given 

 to this culture by the Imperial example. The Empress, must 

 make silk-weaving one of her occupations, and to her is com 

 mitted the homage due to the god of the silk-worm. 



Long before the era of European civilization, China-appears 

 to have understood the true relations of agriculture and the 

 mechanic arts. The division of labor led to wonderful results 

 in the perfection of manufactures and the extension of com 

 merce. 



Marco Polo tells us that the Chinese have used paper money 

 since the year 119 B. c. &quot;We know they had established banks, 

 and conducted financial operations by promissory notes and 

 bills of exchange, at an early period. 



Every practicable spot in China is devoted to tillage, which is 

 mostly accomplished by hand labor. Implements are few, light 

 and simple in construction. , The le or plow is of wood, with 

 an iron point, and is drawn by a single buffalo. Only the edge 

 of the hoe is of iron; the harrow has teeth thickly set, and ten 

 inches long, an excellent pulverizer. The bamboo rake, used 

 for harvesting, gleaning, gathering scraps of manure, may be 

 said never to leave the hands of the Chinese farmer. The bill 

 hook or leen is another instrument, serving all the purposes of 

 pruning-knife, scythe and sickle. 



Six or eight acres is a large farm. Divided by belts or lines 

 of carefully tended grass, instead of fences, these garden farms 

 present a finished picture of the highest cultivation. Two and 

 even four crops are obtained yearly from the same ground by 

 alternating grain and vegetables. Liquid manure is freely used; 

 ashes, oil cake, night soil, lime from bones and oyster shells, 

 even human hair from the barbers is carefully saved. 



The wages of the lowest description of laborers averages about 

 sixty cash, (30 cents) per month, and the cost of maintenance is 

 from a dollar to a dollar and a half. Artisans, such as car 

 penters and blacksmiths, receive five dollars a month, with a 

 corresponding increase in the cost of maintenance. 



In the year of 1013 of our era, Tchin-Tsoung published the 

 census of the industrial population, and reported 21,966,965 



