Chap. XIT. LILIACEOUS MEDICINAL PLANT. 261 



menced, and liimdreds of the natives were busily 

 employed in drying it. The river's banks, un- 

 cultivated land, the dry gravelly bed of the river, 

 and every other available spot was taken up with 

 this operation. At grey dawn of morning the 

 sheaves or bundles were taken out of temporary 

 sheds, erected for the purpose of keeping off the 

 rain and dew, and shaken thinly over the surface 

 of the ground. In the afternoon, before the sun 

 had sunk very low in the horizon, it was gathered 

 up again into sheaves and placed under cover for 

 the night. A watch was then set in each of the 

 sheds ; for however quiet and harmless the people 

 in these parts are, there is no lack of thieves, who 

 are very honest if they have no opportunity to 

 steal. And so the process of winnowing went on 

 day by day until the whole of the moisture was 

 dried out of the reeds. They were then bound 

 up firmly in round bundles, and either sold in the 

 markets of the country, or taken to Ningpo and 

 other towns where the manufacture of mats is 

 carried on, on a large scale. 



The winter crops of this part of China consist 

 of wheat, barley, the cabbage oil-plant, and many 

 other kinds of vegetables on a smaller scale. Large 

 tracts of land are planted with the bulbs of a 

 liliaceous plant — probably a Fritillaria — which 

 are used in medicine. This is planted in Novem- 

 ber, and dug up again in April and May. In 

 March these lily-fields are in full blossom, and 

 give quite a feature to the country. The flowers 



T 2 



