266 SOIL, MANURE, AND CULTURE. [Cuar. XIV. 
with rice instead of cotton, and regularly flooded 
by the water-wheel during the period of growth. 
Although the cotton land is generally flat, so much 
so, indeed, that no hills can be seen from the tops 
of the houses in the city of Shanghae, it has never- 
theless a pleasing and undulating appearance, and 
taken as a whole, it is perhaps the most fertile 
agricultural district in the world. The soil is a 
strong rich loam capable of yielding immense crops 
year after year, although it receives but a small 
portion of manure. 
The manure applied to the cotton lands of the 
Chinese, is doubtless peculiarly well fitted for this 
kind of crop. It is obtained from the canals, 
ponds, and ditches which intersect the country in 
every direction, and consists of mud which has 
been formed partly by the decay of long grass, 
reeds, and succulent water plants, and partly by the 
surface soil which has been washed down from the 
higher ground by the heavy rains. Every agri- 
cultural operation in China seems to be done with 
the greatest regularity, at certain stated times, 
which experience has proved the best, and in 
nothing is this more apparent than in the manuring 
of the cotton lands. Early in April the agricultural 
labourers, all over the country, are seen busily 
employed in cleaning these ponds and ditches. The 
water is first of all partly drawn off, and then the 
mud is thrown up on the adjoining land to dry, 
where it remains for a few days until all the 
