ClIAP. XII. 
REAPING AND GATHERING. 
205 
of October, when the thermometer sank to the freezing 
point, and then ice was found on the sides of the canals 
and ponds. 
As the pods are bursting every day, it is necessary to 
have them gathered with great regularity, otherwise 
they fall upon the ground and the cotton gets dirty, 
which of course reduces its value in the market. Little 
bands of the Chinese are now seen in the afternoon in 
every field, gathering the ripe cotton, and carrying it 
home to the houses of the farmers. As the farms are 
generally small, they are worked almost entirely by the 
farmer and his family, consisting sometimes of three or 
even four generations, including the old grey-haired 
grandfather or great-grandfather, who has seen the 
crops of fourscore years gathered into his barns. Every 
member of these family groups has a certain degree 
of interest in his employment ; the harvest is their 
own, and the more productive it is, the greater number 
of comforts they will be able to afford. Of course there 
are many cotton-farms of larger size, where labourers 
are employed in addition to the farmer's family, but by 
far the greater number are small and worked in the 
way I have just described. It is no unusual sight to see 
the family goats, too, doing their share of the work. 
Several of these animals are kept on almost every farm, 
where they are, of course, great favourites with the 
children, and often follow them to the cotton-fields. 
Although the children with their little hands can gather 
the cotton as well as their elders, they are not strong 
enough to carry it about with them, and it is amusing 
to see their favourites the goats, with bags slung across 
