The Wonderful Canals of China 



6 9 



canals for fertilizers is the only way by 

 which the Chinese have kept their ca- 

 nals in reasonably good condition for 

 centuries. The fertilizer has paid for 

 itself both ways. Recently there were 

 complaints filed at Peking that the 

 ashes from the steam launches plying 

 on the canals were injuring the muck 

 for fertilizing purposes, and the prob- 

 lem has been considered a serious one 

 by the Chinese government. 



In addition to securing fertilizers 

 from the canals, and thus keeping the 

 canals in condition, the farmers help 

 keep them purified by gathering all 

 floating weeds, grass, and other vege- 

 table debris that they can find upon 

 them. Boatmen will secure great loads 

 of water plants and grass by skimming 

 the surface of the canal. The reeds 

 growing along the canals are used for 

 weaving baskets of several grades and 

 for fuel. In short, no plant life about 

 the canal goes to waste. 



Where there are so many canals there 

 is more or less swamp ground. In 

 China this is utilized for the raising of 

 lotus roots, from which commercial 

 arrowroot is largely obtained. There 

 is no reason why much of the waste 

 swamp land in the southern portion of 

 the United States should not be used 

 for a similar purpose, and the commer- 

 cial returns from a venture of this sort 

 in that part of the country ought to be 

 satisfactory. Where the canals of 

 China widen, by reason of natural 

 waterways or for other reasons, the ex- 

 panse of water not needed for actual 

 navigation is made use of in the raising 

 of water nuts of several varieties, espe- 

 cially what are known as water chest- 

 nuts. These nuts are raised in immense 

 quantities. They are, strictly speak- 

 ing, bulbs rather than nuts. They are 

 rich in arrowroot and are prolific, an 

 acre of shallow water producing far 

 more than an acre of well cultivated soil 

 planted in ordinary grain or similar 

 crops. These nuts, also, could be pro- 



duced to advantage in the United States 

 where there is land inundated for the 

 growing season to a depth which will 

 give ordinary water plants a chance to 

 thrive and which is not capable of being 

 drained for the time being. The nuts 

 or bulbs are toothsome when roasted, 

 and are wholesome, but probably would 

 be more valuable in the United States 

 for the manufactured products which 

 can be secured from them. 



There are duck farms all along the 

 canals in China. These are profitable. 

 Chinese canals, as a rule, considering 

 the population upon them and their 

 varied uses, are cleaner than canals in 

 the United States. There are few if 

 any factories to contaminate them. The 

 Chinese use of certain sewage for fer- 

 tilization also prevents contamination to 

 a great extent. The canal water is used 

 for laundry, bath, and culinary pur- 

 poses indiscriminately. A canal in the 

 United States could never be what it is 

 in China, but the Chinese have a num- 

 ber of clever devices and ideas in con- 

 nection with their canals which can 

 be adopted in the United States with 

 profit. 



The Grand Canal system in China 

 has existed in almost its present shape 

 since about the time Columbus discov- 

 ered America. The Grand Canal itself, 

 extending from Hangchau to Pekin, is 

 about a thousand miles long. Much of 

 it is banked with stone, and all of it is 

 in such condition that with the expendi- 

 ture of a little money the system could 

 be put upon a modern and effective 

 basis. As it is, the canal handles prac- 

 tically all the internal trade of China, 

 and this trade is far greater than its for- 

 eign trade. The coming of railroads 

 will affect the canals somewhat, but not 

 so much as may be imagined, for the 

 railroads will very largely build up a 

 trade of their own. A little money will 

 make China's canal system in the future 

 what it has been in the past, the greatest 

 on earth. 



