12 COGGIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



or 30,000 hats of split bamboo are by no means an unusual annual 

 export through Teng-yiich. 



Tobacco is grown extensively for local consumption. Oil- 

 producing plants of various kinds are raised for various purposes. 

 Dye-producing plants used to be grown on a large scale, but the 

 influx of the German aniline dyes had killed the industry when I 

 was in the province. The only dye which I saw being made was 

 a kind of indigo. The cultivation of this plant is not confined 

 to any particular area as I found it scattered throughout the country. 



A very large number of different kinds of fruit thrive in Yunnan ; 

 amongst others the following may be mentioned : — apple, pear, 

 apricot, peach, nectarine, cherry, plum, orange, lemon, mulberry, 

 citron, pomegranate, bramble, raspberry, strawberry, pine-apple, 

 plantain, chestnut and walnut. There arc extensive pear orchards 

 around Yung-cha'ng Fu. Dried fruits of various kinds are prepared 

 and exported. Walnuts are cultivated around Yang-pi and Jlsia- 

 kuan in Western Yunnan and are exported to Burma in large 

 quantities. Over the years 1902 — 1909 the average annual export 

 of walnuts through Teng-yiieh was 77 tons. 



The Yunnanese are skilled gardeners and grow large quantities 

 of vegetables for the city markets. As a race they are very fond 

 of flowers and all kinds of shrubs and trees are cultivated for their 

 blooms. The wild flora of Yunnan is a very varied one and Euro- 

 pean collectors have recently introduced many beautiful forms 

 from its highlands into European gardens. It is not a well wooded 

 country on the whole and great difficulty is experienced in obtaining 

 wood of any sort near the cities. Large coniferous forests exist 

 in the isolated areas but they serve no useful purpose. Timber 

 for constructional purposes would make a profitable import from 

 Burma if cheap railway transport was available. 



Yunnan is essentially a grazing country, so little of the land 

 is under direct cultivation, while so much of it has been denuded 

 of all trees and scrub vegetation that immense areas are available 

 for the raising of flocks, and the salubrious atmosphere together 

 With the character of the soil, tends to the growth of grasses 

 suitable for them. Writing on this subject as long ago as 1877, Daven- 

 port, in an almost forgotten report, stated : " It has a most suit- 

 able climate, neither too hot in summer nor too cold' in winter, 

 while the hills and surface generally are covered with luxuriant 

 crass, which, like the grass in some of the Western States of North 



