864 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Robert F. Fitch 



THE FOOT THAT PUFS THE PUMP CONTROLS THE CROP IN MANY PARTS OF CHIXA 



These particular coolies do not seem to be downcast by the monotony or the strenuousness 



of their share in the task of irrigation, however. 



Photograph from Joseph Beech 

 PLOWING UNDER WATER AND UNDER DIFFICULTIES IN THE CHEXG-TU PLAIN 



The farmer of the Cheng-tu Plain knows little of the science of gardening, but much 

 of its method. He has made Sze-chuan known as the Garden of Asia, where famine never 

 comes. 



