158 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part I. 



against one end, by driving wedges at the side ; it is very simple and yet powerful. 

 (^Dr. Abel's Nar., 176.) An oil used as a varnish is extracted from another variety of 

 the Camellia, or tea plant (the Dryandra cordata of Thunb.), which is used as a varnish 

 for their boats, and coarser articles of furniture. 



976. The tallow tree ( Crbton sebiferuni) resembles the oak in the height of its stem and 

 the spread of its branches, and its foliage has the green and lustre of the laurel ; its 

 flowers are small and yellow, and its seeds white. The latter ara crushed either as the 

 camellia seeds, or in a hollow trunk of a tree, lined with iron, by means of a wheel laden 

 with a heavy weight (Jig. 129.), and suspended 

 from a beam. The bruised matter next 

 undergoes nearly the same process as the 

 camellia seeds, and the oily matter is found to 

 have all the properties of animal tallow. It is 

 mixed with vegetable oil and wax, to give 

 it consistence, and then made into candles, 

 which burn with great flame, emit much 

 smoke, and quickly consume. 



977. The wax tree, or Pe-la, is a term which 

 is not applicable to any one species of tree, 

 but to such as are attacked by a small worm, 

 which runs up, and fastens to their leaves, 

 covering them with combs. "When these worms are once used to the trees of any district, 

 they never leave them, unless something extraordinary drives them away. The wax pro- 

 duced is hard, shining, and considerably dearer than that of bees. 



978. The Se'samum orientate and the B.icinus communis, or castor-oil plant, are cultivated for the 

 esculent oils extracted from their seeds. They appear to have some method of depriving the castor oil 

 of its purgative qualities, but Dr. Abel thinks not completely. 



979. The camphire tree CLaurus Camphbra) grows to the size of our elms or oaks. The camphire is 

 procured by boiling the fresh-gathered branches of the tree, and stirring the whole with a stick, till the 

 gum begins to adhere to it in the form of a white jelly. The fluid is then poured off into a glazed vessel, 

 and left to concrete. " The crude camphire is then purified in the following manner. A quantity of the 

 finely powdered materials of some old wall, built of earth, is put as a first layer at the bottom of a copper 

 basin ; on this is placed a layer of camphire, and then another of earth, and so on till the vessel is nearly 

 filled ; the series being terminated with a layer of earth : over this is laid a covering of the leaves of the 

 plant Po-tio, perhaps a species of Mentha. A second basin is now inverted over the first, and luted on. 

 The whole thus prepared is put over a regulated fire, and submitted to its action for a certain length of 

 time ; it is then removed and suffered to cool. The camphire is found to have sublimed, and to be 

 attached to the upper basin, and is further refined by repetitions of the same process." {Narrative, 

 S[c., 179.) 



980. The oak is as much prized in China as in other countries, and is styled the tree of inheritance. 

 There are several species in general use for building, dyeing, and fuel ; and the acorns are ground into 

 a paste, which mixed with the flour of corn is made into cakes. 



981. The maidenhair tree {Salisbur'ia. adiantifolia) is grown for its fruit, which Dr. Abel saw exposed 

 in quantities ; but whether as a table fruit, a culinary vegetable, or a medicine, he could not ascertain. 

 Kaempfer says, the fruit assists digestion. 



982. The cordage plant (Slda iiluefblia) is extensively cultivated for the manufacture of cordage from 

 its fibres. The common hemp is used for the same purpose, but the Slda is preferred. A species of MCiso 

 is also grown in some places, and its fibres used for rope and other purposes. 



983. The common cotton, and also a variety bearing a yellow down, from which, without any 

 dyeing process, the nankeen cloths are formed, are grown in dififerent places. The mulberry is grown 

 in a dwarf state, as in Hindustan. 



984. The ground nut {A^'rachis hypogce^a), the eatable arum (.4^rum escul^ntum), theTr^pa bic6rnis, 

 the Scirpus tuberbsus, and Nelumbium, all producing edible tubers, are cultivated in lakes, tanks, or 

 marshy places. 



985. The Nelumbium, Dr. Abel observes, with its pink and yellow blossoms, and broad green leaves, 

 gives a charm and productiveness to marshes, otherwise unsightly and barren. The leaves of the plant 

 are watered in the summer, and cut down close to the roots 

 on the approach of winter. The seeds, which are in size and 

 form like a small acorn without its cup, are eaten green, or 

 dried as nuts, and are often preserved in sweetmeats ; they 

 have a nut-like flavour. Its roots are sometimes as thick as 

 the arm, of a pale green without, and whitish within ; in a 

 raw state they are eaten as fruit, being juicy and of a 

 sweetish and refreshing flavour ; and when boiled are served 

 as vegetables. 



986. The Sclrpus tuberbsus, or water chestnut {fig. 130.), 

 is a stoloniferous rush, almost without leaves, and the 

 tubers are produced on the stolones. It grows in tanks, 

 which are manured for its reception about the end of March. 

 A tank being drained of its water, small pits are dug in its 

 bottom ; they are filled with human manure, and exposed 

 to the sun for a fortnight ; their contents are next intimately 

 blended with the slimy bottom of the tank, and slips of the 

 plant inserted. The water is now returned to the tank, and 

 the first crop of tubers comes to perfection in six months. 

 {Rox. Coromandel.) 



987. The millet {Holcus) is grown on the banks of rivers, 

 and attains the height of sixteen feet. It is sown in rows, 

 and after it comes up P^nicum is sown between, which 

 comes to perfection after the other is cut down. 



988. Among the mariy esculent vegetables cul- 

 tivated in China, the petsai, a species of white cabbage, is in most general use. 



The 



