338 SYSTEMS OF PERMANENT AGRICULTURE 



liquid manure, quite close in seed beds and afterwards transplants it. Oc- 

 casionally, also, the soaked grains are immediately sown in the field properly 

 prepared for their reception, at an interval of four inches from each other. The 

 time of transplanting is toward the month of December. In March the seed 

 send up from seven to nine stalks with ears, but the straw is shorter than with 

 us. I have been told that wheat yields 120 fold and more, which amply repays 

 the care and labor bestowed upon it." 



ECKEGERG, in Report to the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, 1765. 



"In Chusan, and the entire rice districts of Chekiang, and Keangaoo, two 

 plants are exclusively cultivated for the purpose of serving as green manure for 

 the rice fields; the one is a species of Coronilla, clover is the other. Broad fur- 

 rows, similar to those intended for celery, are made, and the seeds are planted 

 on the ridges in patches, at a distance of five inches from each other. In the 

 course of a few days germination begins, and long before the winter is gone the 

 entire field is covered with a luxuriant vegetation. In April the plants are 

 plowed in ; and decomposition soon begins, attended with a most disagreeable 

 odor. This method is adopted in all places where rice is grown." FORTUNE. 



^.^ 



"These extracts," said Liebig, "which, from want of space, 

 cannot be further extended, will probably suffice to convince the 

 German agriculturist that his practice, when compared with that 

 of the oldest agricultural nation in the world, stands somewhat in 

 the position of the acts of a child to those of a full-grown and 

 experienced man." 



A communication dated Chengtu, Szechuan, China, July 4, 1907, 

 from Elrick Williams (formerly associated with the author, as 

 student and teacher, at the University of Illinois) contains the 

 following information: 



"One of the first things which attract the attention of a foreigner on reach- 

 ing China is the simple form of closets and 'outhouses' in vogue. Private ones 

 consist of a square box in which is placed an earthenware vessel usually smaller 

 than a bushel basket. A stranger will notice that it is empty every morning, 

 even at an early hour. Greater still is one's astonishment to note along the 

 streets convenient places for accommodating one's necessity in this regard. They 

 are, of course, very simple. Along the river where there are multitudes of 

 trackers (men who tow the boats), one finds earthenware vessels set in the 

 ground behind a half circle of matting about three or four feet high. Enter- 

 prising farmers put these in to reap the passing reward. Last, but by no means 

 least, is the man with the dung basket and fork. The man may be a woman 

 or child but the majority are grown men. They haunt the streets, alleys, lanes, 

 or loafing places of men, and the feeding places of beasts. I have seen a 

 woman run down a steep hill with a basket in order to be nearest to a squatting 

 tracker. Before he is twenty feet away, often the prize is gathered up. 



