50 AGRICULTURAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORCHARDS OF CHINA. 



When traveling through northern Korea in the summer and fall of 

 1906 the writer found in the highlands of the Changpektchang region 

 hundreds of acres covered with fine blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus), 

 on which his party feasted until their tongues and palates were dark 

 purple and their teeth were on edge. These blueberries are certainly 

 worthy of cultivation in cold, bleak districts where other berries will 

 not grow. Even in the wild state there is a considerable degree of 

 variation among them as to size and sweetness of fruit, and superior 

 varieties could easily be selected and multiplied. 



Here and there in shady, moist places, in the same localities 

 where the blueberries were growing, masses of mountain cranberries 

 (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) were noticed, but the scarlet, fine-looking 

 berries were somewhat too bitter to be palatable. 



In the cooler parts of northern China, Manchuria, northern Korea, 

 and eastern Siberia the snowball (Viburnum opulus) often occurs in 

 large masses. In some places the natives collect the scarlet, juicy 

 berries and make preserves of them by boiling the fruit and mixing 

 sugar with the paste. 



Schizandra chinensis is a small climbing vine, growing in shady 

 thickets in Manchuria, northern Korea, and eastern Siberia. It bears 

 long, dense clusters of scarlet berries which are eaten by the natives, 

 who claim that the fruit possesses medicinal properties, being a blood 

 purifier. The dried fruit is exported as medicine in large quantities 

 from Manchuria to various Chinese cities. To us, however, this plant 

 would be of value mainly as a graceful ornamental climber. (S. P. I. 

 Nos. 19602 and 20361.) 



Besides these regular fruits, many wild things of minor importance 

 are used for food. One of these is too curious to omit. There grows 

 in some parts of China a species of hackberry (Celtis sinensis). This 

 tree is sometimes so badly attacked by a gall that it becomes stunted. 

 The Chinese, however, eat these galls while green and before the 

 insect inside is entirely grown. They say that the flavor is exactly 

 like that of a cucumber, and for this reason the tree is called the 

 "Shan huang kwa shu," or wild cucumber tree. 



COLD-STORAGE METHODS IN CHINA. 



It is a fact of peculiar interest that certain methods or practices 

 which our present generation considers to be particularly its own are 

 found to have been practiced for no one knows how long in some of the 

 oldest countries of the globe. Cold storage is one of them. The 

 Chinese understand the principles of cold storage thoroughly. They 

 are able to keep grapes from one year to another by storing them in 

 deep, dugout cellars that are kept cold with baskets of broken ice 

 placed among the baskets of fruit. 



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