296 CHINESE PLOUGH. [Cuar. XVI. 
Scotland, and capable of producing excellent crops. 
As a general rule it may be observed, that the 
lower the valleys are, the more the soil approaches 
in its nature to the stiff clay of the south, and vice 
versa. For instance, the Shanghae district is several 
feet higher above the level of the rivers and canals 
than that of Ning-po, and the soil of the latter con- 
sists more of a stiff clay and has less vegetable 
matter in its composition, and is far from being so 
fertile as the cotton district of Shanghae. 
Rice being the chief article of food is, of course, 
the staple production of the country, more particu- 
larly in the south, where two crops of it can easily 
be raised in the hot months, besides another crop 
of some more hardy vegetables in winter. 
The ground is prepared in spring for the first 
crop of rice, as soon as the winter green crops are 
removed from the fields. The plough, which is 
commonly drawn by a buffalo or bullock, is a rude 
implement ; but probably answers the purpose much 
better than ours would, which has been found to 
be too heavy and unmanageable for the Chinese.* 
As the land is always flooded with water before it 
is ploughed, this operation may be described as 
the turning up a layer of mud and water, six or eight 
inches deep, which lies on a solid floor of hard stiff 
clay. The plough never goes deeper than this mud 
and water, and. consequently the ploughman and his 
bullock in wading through the field find a solid 
footing at this depth below the surface. The water 
* Several of our ploughs have been sent out to China, and 
offered to the native farmers gratis, but they will not use them. 
