THE IRRIGATION AGE. 349 



house, and possibly the plague may come from that pile of black filth." 

 And this practical enonomist replied: "That black dirt makes very 

 good manure.'' The fact that one member of the family taken sick, 

 much less dying, would cost many times more than the fertilizer was 

 worth in several years was too remote a possibility to affect this time- 

 honored practice of feeding the family pig inside the house and clean- 

 ing up the sty only so often as it would be profitable for agricultural 

 purposes. Vats of cement or stone are everywhere, and into these 

 vats are thrown straw, vegetable tops, leaves and whatever refuse 

 there is that is not wanted for fuel or for other commercial purposes. 

 Water is then poured in, and when the refuse is entirely rotted this 

 water is carried in buckets and sprinkled on the growing rice and 

 vegetables. 



The Chinaman fertilizes not merely once a year when putting in 

 his crop, but until it is nearly ripe. This, in the case of green vege- 

 tables, is more profitable to the producer than to the consumer, for 

 disease germs are lodged in the leaves that doubtless have much to do 

 with the constant prevalence of cholera in the East. 



As I write this upon a canal-boat the fields on either side and 

 banks are constant illustrations of my subject. On the banks ar 

 piles of earth drying, which have been scooped up from the sediment 

 at the bottom of this canal. This, when hardened in the sun, is pul- 

 verized and put on the fields. It is most fortunate that this sediment 

 is valuable, being well worth the labor of dredging it up by hand with 

 a scoop attached to a long bamboo pole worked by a man in a flat- 

 boat. If it were of no value these canals, so necessary to agriculture 

 and commerce, would fill up. This government would not concern it- 

 self to keep them open, and there is little public spirit in China to de- 

 pend upon for such works. 



In many fields on either side of the canal are round piles of earth 

 in clods, about two or three feet high and twice as broad, from the 

 back of which issues a thin column of smoke. The entire surface of 

 much of the rice-land is thus being smoked and burnt by straw in the 

 middle of each pile. This is a laborious but very effective method of 

 strengthening the soil. It is probable that one reason that Chinese 

 fields are so free from weeds in the fact that the soil is treated in this 

 way. The burning kills the seeds. 



The value of ashes as a fertilizer is well understood, and the 

 housewife carefully saves them, selling for a good price or using them 

 upon the family fields. Even the sweepings of the houses are saved 

 by these thrifty economists; and a wife is expected to get enough 

 money for the house dust to keep herself supplied with brooms. Even 

 the value of bones is understood, and they bring a high price. They 

 are pulverized in a stone mortar, with hand or foot power, and used 

 for certain soils and crops. 



This gathering up of all the filth and using it to produce more 



