236 



RECREATION. 



fancy groceries. Ginger ale and bottled 

 waters were in abundance, and plenty was 

 the order of the day. The food of our 

 soldiers exceeded in quantity, quality and 

 variety that of any of the allied forces, as 

 was the comment of all foreign officers 

 under whose notice it fell. When the 

 march to Pekin was taken up, however, the 

 fare was less generous. All supplies direct- 

 ly accompanying the troops had to be car- 

 ried in wagons or on pack mules, and of 

 these means of transportation the command 

 was short, having sufficient only for carry- 

 ing 3 days' rations and ioo rounds of re- 

 serve ammunition per man ; but, in com- 

 mon with the other contingents, we had a 

 reserve supply of rations and ammunition 

 following on the junks by the Peiho, of 

 which the course was in the general direc- 

 tion of the march as far as Tung Chow, 

 within 13 miles of Pekin. Such luxuries 

 as tents, however, are out of the question. 



"The ration thus carried was reduced to 

 about 3 pounds per man, the full ration in 

 bulk with its packing cases weighing about 

 5 pounds per man, and comprised the 

 staples : Bacon, hard bread, sugar, coffee, 

 rice, beans and condiments. Even so, it 

 was better than was carried for the troops 

 of any other nation. Within 3 days after 

 the arrival at Pekin fancy groceries and 

 bottled waters appeared in the American 

 commissary, and within a week there was 

 an abundance of these for all." 



Regarding the vegetable rations it is 

 stated that : 



"Some of the vegetable ration was car- 

 ried and issued en route. The country, 

 however, furnished a bountiful supply 

 of vegetables, egg plant, green corn, sweet 

 potatoes, beans, lettuce, etc. 



Another officer says : 



"In my mind there were none who had 

 such excellent or abundant a supply as the 

 Americans. The Japs had rice, bread, and 

 dried fish and tea, which they supplemented 

 by the use of the sheep and cattle the 

 country produced. They also had Ameri- 

 can canned meats, but they seemed to be 

 an emergency diet. 



"The British white troops had a ration 

 similar to ours in quality and quantity, but 

 not so varied or flexible. They used tea 

 instead of coffee. The British Indian 

 troops had about ^ of a pound of atta, or 

 flour; about 1 pound of rice; 1 gill of 

 ghee, or vegetable oil ; salt, and once a 

 week a pound of fresh meat, bone and all." 



FORCING ASPARAGUS. 

 A satisfactory method of forcing aspara- 

 gus in the field has been reported by the 

 Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 This consists in supplying the plants in the 

 open field with the heat required for 

 growth by means of steam. The method is 



as follows: Trenches Were made by run- 

 ning a plow twice in a place between the 

 rows of asparagus plants so as to throw 

 the soil on them. The trenches were then 

 made uniform by means of a spade. When 

 finished they were 3 or 4 inches lower than 

 the crown of the plants. They were cov- 

 ered with 12 inch boards resting on 4 inch 

 blocks on either side of the trenches, thus 

 forming tunnels between the rows. The 

 boards were covered with 2 or 3 inches of 

 soil, and over the whole bed 5 or 6 inches 

 of horse manure was placed. Steam from 

 a boiler, was carried to the end of the cen- 

 tral tunnel by a steam pipe, and from there 

 forced into the various tunnels through a 

 steam hose. The steam, coming into direct 

 contact with the soil, penetrates it readily, 

 and thereby warms the whole bed uni- 

 formly to the desired temperature, keeps 

 the soil moist, and maintains a continuous 

 fermentation of the manure mulch. It was 

 found that about 5 minutes at a time was 

 as long as steam could be forced into the 

 tunnels without danger of injuring the 

 plants. In the first test of the method at 

 the station, 6 rows, 4 feet apart and 50 feet 

 long, were prepared for forcing. Steam 

 was first applied November 14. It was dis- 

 charged in each tunnel not over 5 minutes 

 at a time, about an hour being required to 

 heat the bed to a temperature of 60 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. After the first day the bed 

 was steamed on an average of twice in 3 

 days, and only for 5 minutes for each tun- 

 nel. The first asparagus was cut 10 days 

 after steaming was begun. It was as large 

 as that ordinarily produced in spring and 

 much more crisp. Cuttings were made al- 

 most daily for a month, when the growth 

 became weak. The second test was begun 

 December 16, and carried out as in the first 

 test. The bed prepared for forcing was 25 

 by 74 feet. The first cutting was made 2 

 weeks after the first steaming. The time 

 of cutting was less regular than in the first 

 test, and wa-s, prolonged about 2 months. 

 The weather being colder, somewhat more 

 steam was required than in the first test. 

 The plants forced were allowed to grow 

 without cutting during the following sum- 

 mer, and the next spring's growth showed 

 that one season's growth after forcing was 

 sufficient for the plants to regain their nor- 

 mal vigor. A test was also made with a 

 bed 25 feet square to determine the quan- 

 tity of coal necessary to force a given area 

 of asparagus and to determine the value of 

 the product. The steam was first used De- 

 cember 29, the first asparagus cut January 

 \2, and cutting was continued until Febru- 

 ary 25. Steam was forced into the tunnels 

 a total of 6o}4 hours ; 2,308 pounds of coal, 

 valued at $1.82, were used in heating the 

 bed. The yield was 162 bunches (80 

 pounds) valued at 10 to 20 cents a bunch. 



