Aug. 1, 1894.] Supplement to the "Tropical Agriculturist." 
Ml 
much used in feeding draught bullocks, but in 
the vicinity of towns rice straw has a certain 
demand, and hence many a cultivator instead 
of using it for his own stock converts it into 
money. In any case, rice straw is a very inferior 
article of diet. 
The following is the average of chemical 
analyses of rice straw according to a report of the 
Department of Agriculture, Madras : — Moisture 
8-122 : Ash 16'873 ; Woody fibre 30-025 ; Fat 2-187 ; 
Albuminoids l - 750 ; Non-albuminoid Nitrogen 
'362 ; other nutritive matter 40'fi48. 
W. A, D. S. 
CTo be continued.) 
CHINESE AGRICULTURE. 
Liebig and Eckeberg long before him, have 
drawn the attention of western farmers to the 
astonishing industry oi the Chinese as cultivators 
of the soil. An account, which appeared a few 
months ago, on Chinese Agriculture (based upon a 
report by the Secretary to the American Legation) 
would tend to show that the people still 
maintain their character as industrious agri- 
culturists, who, with many difficulties to face, 
and under particularly trying circumstances, make 
the most of their small opportunities. In some 
respects there is a similarity between the con- 
ditions, (for instance as regards implements and 
crops) between the natives of China and Ceylon, 
but there are many lessons which the latter 
can learn from the former race. It is, for this 
reason, that we would draw attention to the 
account (or rather certain parts of it which are 
of particular interest) referred to above. 
The agricultural implements used by the 
Chinese are, we are told, very simple, and this 
is shown from the fact that a complete farm 
outfit can be purchased for from £5 to £6. 
This would consist of a plough with two plough- 
shares, two harrows, wooden pump or water- 
wheel, donkey, threshing-flail or roller, hoes, 
sickles, baskets, and a few smaller tools. The 
size of farms varies. In the south, two acres 
are sufficient to maintain a family of five or 
six persons, while seven or eight acres mean 
great wealth. In the north five acres mean 
comfort, while ten to thirty acres are owned 
by wealthy families. In some provinces, however, 
there are exceptions to these rules, and in 
Manchooria 500-acre farms are not uncommon. 
The use of manure and the systems of irrigation 
are the two most characteristic features of 
Chinese farming. Manure is gathered from all 
conceivable sources. In the cities the night soil 
deposited on the sides of streets and alleys 'is 
gathered by men and boys in buckets, mixed 
with clay and dried in the sun, and sold to 
farmers on country roads. Boys, and often girls 
and women, are seen at places where large 
numbers of pack horses, camels, and mules pass, 
gathering the manure into baskets, which is 
sold to farmers and spread on the fields. Earth 
from the canals, rivers, and city streets is also 
carted Eot the same purpose. The quantity of 
these fertilisers used and the importance the 
Chinese attach to them are proved by the immense 
number of people whose livelihood is gained 
in their collection. For irrigation, numerous 
devices ftro used, more or less rude, and adapted 
to the locality. When running water is at 
hand, the farmer turns it to advantage by 
directing it over his land in large channels 
banked in with clay, and sub-divided into smaller 
and smaller streamlets, until every part of the 
ground has been reached. If no running water 
is found, wells are dug and water drawn up 
by hand and poured into the main ditches, 
which are sub-divided into numerous smaller ones. 
The wages of hired farm-labourers vary con- 
siderably in different provinces. In the south, 
£2 5s. to £3 per annum, with food and lodging, 
is the rule ; but in one or two favoured districts 
in the north they go as high as £6 a year, 
also with food and lodging. These amounts are 
very small, but so are the needs of a Chinese 
agricultural labourer. Nearly all his garments 
are home-made by T the women from home spun 
cotton. In each case the labourer also receives 
straw shoes and free shaving — the latter being 
an important item in a country where heads 
must be shaved three or four times a month ! 
The profits of Chinese farmers are, as a rule, 
small, and are said to be generally only sufficient 
to enable them to live in greater or less comfort, 
and keep their families. 
In spite of all drawbacks, the Chinese peasantry 
are happy and contented. 
And by this method of cultivation, no less 
than 450,000,000 human beings in China depend 
for their daily sustenance ! 
STOCK ITEMS. 
Dr. T. W. Leather, Agricultural Chemist to the 
Government of India, in his first annual report, 
makes the following reference to two Govern- 
ment dairies visited by him in the course of 
the year : — Of the dairies which have been started 
within recent years under Government auspices, 
I visited those at Aligarh and Poona. That the 
value of these dairies is appreciated is, I believe, 
well recognized by both the Governments of 
Bombay and the North-Western Provinces and 
Oudh. The butter there made is of excellent 
quality, and keeps so well that its sale extends 
to very long distances. Aligarh supplies butter, 
for instance, to the Central Provinces. The 
question of the introduction of European dairy 
appliances into India has been considered by 
Dr. Voelcker in chapter 11, paragraphs 262 to 
268, of his Reporc on the Improvement of Indian 
Agriculture, and whilst he expresses the opinion, 
in paragraph 266, that such improved machinery 
for butter-making is hardly likely to replace 
that with which the people make ghee, lie points 
out in the following paragraph the advisability 
of introducing improvements in the milk-supply. 
This naturally includes better fodder for the 
cattle, good supplies of water for them, and above 
all cleanliness iti the dairy surroundings and in the 
methods of milking. That there is room for such 
improvements no one will deny. Moreover, it 
seems to me that a well-conducted dairy forms as 
excellent an object lessons in cleanliness as could 
well be devised, and indirectly improved dairying 
will doubtless prove an aid in the direction of 
sanitary improvement. Several samples of the 
butter made at Aligarh, Lucknow, and the Military 
Grass Farm, Allahabad, have been analysed. 
Those from Aligarh and Lucknow wore all thuC 
