Edible Products. 



410 



[November, 1910. 



come) is an important agricultural area. 

 With ideal climate, soil and water re- 

 sources, together with a dense and un- 

 usually industrious population, no other 

 part of the world supports a greater 

 number of souls from its soil as does this 

 part of Southern China. 



Lying in the same degree of latitude 

 as Hawaii, most of the crops grown here 

 are to be found there. Among these the 

 most important is rice, which is the 

 great staple of the region. The quality 

 of this product is considered the best 

 grown in China, but the production does 

 not fully supply the needs of the popul- 

 ation, in consequence of which its ex- 

 portation is prohibited by the Govern- 

 ment. Soy beans and other members cf 

 the pulse family are extensively grown. 

 These form an important article of diet, 

 the Chinese evidently appreciating the 

 value of nitrogenous food in connection 

 with the more starchy cereal rice; 

 millets, sweet potatoes, taro, peanuts, 

 tea, sesame seed, Indian corn, tobacco, 

 mulberries (with silk products), matting 

 sedges, ramie and cotton. Many kinds of 

 tropical and semi tropical fruits also 

 thrive there. Sugar cane is grown to 

 a slight extent, and does well in many 

 localities. With modern cultural meth- 

 ods and greater enterprise this crop 

 could doubtless be developed into an 

 important industry. Poultry and swine 

 are the principal livestock. A small 

 neat milch cow is occasionally met 

 with, but beef cattle and horses are rare. 

 Such agricultural work, as is not per- 

 formed by hand labour, is usually done 

 with the aid of water-buffalos, as is still 

 common in the paddy fields in some 

 parts of Hawaii. 



Having letters to Professor Y. H. Tong, 

 the noted rice expert and director of the 

 recently established Canton Provincial 

 Experiment Station and College of Agri- 

 culture, I called at that institution, but 

 found that he was absent in Pekin, 

 where the Chinese Government is about 

 to establish a similar institution. I met, 

 however, Dr. Y. Li, the chemist, who is 

 a graduate of an English university, and 

 was shown about the Station by him. 

 The Station although established only a 

 year, has made a good beginning, and I 

 was well repaid by several visits. 

 Comparatively little has been done 

 as yet on rice, but the cotton 

 plants were at their best. Some ten 

 varieties, conisting of American Up- 

 land and native cottons, are being 

 grown according to American methods 

 While well cared for, the plants of none 

 of the varieties compared with those of 

 our growing. Not only were they under- 

 sized, but the quality of the fibre and 



the yields were very poor. I examined 

 all the varieties critically many times 

 and should feel very much discouraged 

 if our experiments gave no better results 

 than those obtained there. That the 

 season was fairly normal was indicated 

 by the thrifty growth of other crops, 

 such as sugar cane, mulberries and vege- 

 tables. After studying the cotton condi- 

 tions at Shanghai an 3 throughout central 

 and southern Japan, I have come to the 

 conclusion that the unfavourable condi- 

 tions are almost wholly climatic, and in 

 this the Station people generally agree. 

 While disappointing from the standpoint 

 of the investigator seeking better cultu- 

 ral methods, it revealed marketing possi- 

 bilities for the Hawaiian product. 



It is interesting to note that every- 

 where, except at the Experiment Sta- 

 tions, the cotton is sown thickly broad- 

 cast in long narrow beds, the plants 

 standing less than a foot apart in each 

 direction. In consequence of this crowd- 

 ing the main stems rarely branch and 

 grow no higher than eighteen to twenty 

 four inches. The average number of 

 bolls per plant is about five, and these 

 are very small, at leaS 150 bolls being 

 required to make a pound. I saw no 

 insect pests affecting the cotton, but 

 noticed a blemish on the foliage, which 

 may be the yellow leaf-blight of the 

 South. Anthracnose of the bolls was 

 also observed, accompanied with shed- 

 ding of the immature bolls, which, how- 

 ever, may be caused independently of 

 the disease mentioned, as it doubtlessly 

 is in Hawaii. I found rotting of the 

 interior of freshly bursted bolls quite 

 common, the cause is probably excessive 

 dews or showery weather at time of 

 ripening. 



Much silk, but very little cotton, is 

 produced in the southern provinces, and 

 I devoted my time pricipally to varieties 

 of rice and methods of rice culture. At 

 the time of my visit the growth of the 

 crop was only about two- chirds complete 

 and no mature stocks were available. 

 In the Canton markets, however, I found 

 a half dozen distinct kinds of rice. 



The following data were procured from 

 various reliable sources, and were only 

 obtained by careful personal inquiry 

 and frequent verification. 



The finest variety of the rice grown in 

 China is unquestionably the " See Miu 

 from Tsang Shing district, some seventy 

 miles east of Canton. I intended to visit 

 this region, but finding it much farther 

 and more difficult to reach than I had 

 expected, I gave up the trip as not worth 

 while at a season when no selections of 

 grains could be made. The exportation 

 of this rice is strictly prohibited, but 



