Cuar. V.] TREFOIL CULTIVATED FOR MANURE. 65 
leaves, and a hat of the same material, which they 
put on during rainy weather; and although they 
look comical enough in the dress, still it is an 
excellent protection from wind and rain. In the 
south of China the So-e is made from the leaves 
of the bamboo and other broad-leaved grasses. 
After the last crop of rice has been gathered in, 
the ground is immediately ploughed up and _ pre- 
pared to receive certain hardy green crops, such as 
clover, the oil plant, and other varieties of the 
cabbage tribe. The trefoil, or clover, is sown on 
ridges, to keep it above the level of the water, 
which often covers the valleys during the winter 
months. When I first went to Chusan, and saw 
this plant cultivated so extensively in the fields, I 
was ata loss to know the use to which it was applied, 
for the Chinese have few cattle to feed, and these 
are easily supplied from the road-sides and uncul- 
tivated parts of the hills. On inquiry I was informed 
that this crop was cultivated almost exclusively for 
manure. The large fresh leaves of the trefoil are 
also picked and used as a vegetable by the natives. 
The oil plant, Brassica chinensis, is in seed and 
ready to be taken from the ground in the beginning 
of May. This plant is extensively grown in 
this part of China, both in the province of Che- 
kiang and also in Kiangsoo, and there is a great 
demand for the oil which is pressed from its seeds. 
For the information of readers not acquainted 
with botany, I may state that this plant is a species 
of cabbage, producing flower stems three or four 
F 
