360 CHINESE CULTIVATION OF THE 
light mat is covered with a thick layer of straw. If this precaution were not 
adopted, the young plants would be destroyed by the heat. 
Before the seed begins to germinate, or when the young leaves first ap- 
pear, the beds must not be watered. By means of a broom dipped in water 
the roof of matting is wetted so as to keep the ground underneath moist. At 
night the roof is removed in order that the young plants may catch the dew. 
‘As soon as the first leaves have appeared, if parasitical plants appear they 
must be immediately pulled up. When the plant is an inch or two high, the 
roof may be laid aside. If the earth is rather dry, it must be slightly mois- 
tened to the depth of about three inches. ~ 
A stiffer soil is now chosen and thrown into beds, to which the young 
plants are to be transferred. The following night the first beds, in which 
the young plants are, are to be watered, the next morning the new beds are 
to be watered also. The young plants are then dug up with a spade, care 
being taken to keep a small ball of earth round their roots, and are pricked 
out at a distance of four inches the one from the other. The ground is 
often hoed. 
At the end of three or five days the earth must be watered, and again 
at the end of ten days, fifteen days, and twenty days. 
After the tenth month the plants must be covered with a foot of fresh 
horse, ass, or cow dung. 
(Extract from the General Treatise on oe intituled ‘ Nong-tching-tsiouen- 
chou. 
When the tchou-ma is cultivated for the first time it is raised from seed. 
The roots of the seedling plants give of themselves new shoots. At the end 
of a few years the roots cross each other and intertwine, when the stems 
must be separated and replanted. 
At the present day it is very common in the countries of ’An-king and 
Kien-ning, to disentangle the roots with a knife, and to replant them. Those 
who cannot procure seeds follow the plan adopted for obtaining young mul- 
berry trees from layers. 
This plan is a very quick one. 
In those countries, however, where there are no roots of the tchou-ma, 
and where it is not easy to procure them from other places, the seed is had 
recourse to. 
As soon as the young plants are a few inches high they are watered with 
a mixture of equal quantities of water and liquid manure. Immediately after 
the stems are cut the ground must be watered, and this ought to be done at 
night or on a cloudy day; for if the plants were watered in the sunshine, 
they would rust. Great care must be taken not to make use of pig’s dung. 
The tchou-ma may be planted every month ; but it is necessary that the 
ground be moist. 
Transplantation and Propagation of the Tchou-ma. 
(‘ Imperial Treatise on Agriculture,’ lib. Ixxviii, fol. 5.) 
When the tufts of the Tchou-ma are strong enough the earth around is 
dug, and new stocks are detached and transplanted elsewhere. The prin- 
cipal stock then grows more vigorously. At the end of four or five years, 
the old stock becoming excessively strong, they are divided and replanted in 
other beds. 
Some persons are satisfied with bending the long stems down and obtaining 
layers in the ordinary way. 
When a bed becomes too crowded, another must be formed, and then 
another and another. In this way the plants may be propagated to any 
extent. 
