664 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



CHII^A. 



CATTLE IN THE YANG-TSE-KIANG VALLEY. 



BEPOBT BY CONSUL SHMPABD, OF BANKOW. 



I have the honor to submit the following as my response to Depart- 

 ment circular of July 18, 1883, relative to cattle, their breeds in this, 

 consular jurisdiction, their treatment, and collateral topics. 



The location of this consulate and its dependencies is entirely in the 

 valley of the River Tang-tse-Kiang, extending from the port of Kiu- 

 Kiang to Chung-Ohing, a distance of about 1,000 miles. I have pur- 

 sued investigations upon the points presented in the forms accompany- 

 ing the circular, by correspondence and otherwise, for the entire distance^ 

 as thoroughly as the means at my command would allow, and the infor- 

 mation given is as exhaustive as a summary will permit. It is pre- 

 sented in detail, rather than on the forms given, on account of the 

 varied nature of the region reported on. 



' TOPO&RAPHT OP THE YANG-TSE-KIANG- VAXiLET. 



The topography of territory presents differing features at differing 

 points, but the soil, being all bordering upon the Yang-tse River, is prin- 

 cipally alluvial, with loam, clay, and sand observable at special locali- 

 ties, but not generally predominant. 



The aloitude at any station in the entire district of country under con- 

 sideration has never been taken, as far as I can discover. My only 

 means of estimating it is from the flow of the river, taken in connection 

 with distance from tide water. But the rate of fall per mile is indeter- 

 minate, varying so widely in estimates given that I cannot fix upon an 

 average with any certainty. In low stages of water the effect of the 

 ocean tides is visibly felt for three to four hundred miles from the sea. 

 I judge, therefore, that the fall of the water is little more than would 

 be produced by the curvature of the earth, and this leads me to con- 

 clude that Hankow is about 50 to 60 feet above sea level. Places far- 

 ther up would of course have a proportionate altitude when situated in 

 the river valley, but highlands in the interior, often approaching close 

 to the river banks, rise to lofty elevations. 



The temperature has no great variation in the whole distance, and I 

 therefore select that at Ichang, for the year 1883, as that port is 400 milea 

 above Hankow, and about the central point between the extremes of 

 the territory. 



