ClIAP. IV. 
TREFOIL GKOWN FOR MANURE. 
45 
land it grows. There is a plant called Urtica nivea, 
both wild and cultivated, which grows about three oi 
four feet in height, and produces a strong fibre in the 
bark, which is prepared by the natives, and sold for the 
purpose of making ropes and cables. The same species 
is said to yield a very fine fibre, which is used in the ^ 
manufacture of grass-cloth. Another strong fibre is ci • 
obtained from the bracts of a palm-tree cultivated onfc- 
the hill-sides of Chusan, as well as in similar situations 
all over the province of Chekiang. These articles an- 
swer the purposes to which they are applied extremely 
well ; but the rope made from the Manila hemp is of 
much greater strength and durability. From the bracts 
of this same palm the natives of the north make what ; 
they call a So-e, or garment of leaves, and a hat of the ! 
same material, which they put on during rainy weather ; 
and, although they look comical enough in the dress, still 
it is an excellent protection from wind and rain. In the 
south of China the So-e is made from the leaves of the 
bamboo and other broad-leaved grasses. 
After the last crop of rice has been gathered in, the 
ground is immediately ploughed up and prepared to 
receive certain hardy green crops, such as clover, the oil- 
plant, and other varieties of the cabbage tribe. The 
trefoil, or clover, is sown on ridges, to keep it above the 
level of the water, which often covers the valleys during 
the winter months. When I first went to Chusan, and 
saw this plant cultivated so extensively in the fields, I 
was at a loss to know the use to which it was applied, for 
the Chinese have few cattle to feed, and these are easily 
supplied from the road -sides and uncultivated parts of the 
