AGRICULTURE OF THE CHINESE.-NO. 5. 
143 
AGRICULTURE OF THE CHINESE.—No. 5. 
Modes of Manuring Land .—In the island of 
Chusan, and over all the rice country of Chekiang 
and Keangsoo, thare are two plants cultivated in the 
winter months, almost exclusively f6r manure ; the 
one is a species of coronilla; the other is trefoil, or 
clover. Large ridges, not unlike those on which 
gardeners grow celery, are thrown up on the wet 
rice fields in the autumn, and the seeds of the plants 
are sown in patches at five inches apart, on the 
surface of the ridges. In a few days germination 
commences, and long before the winter is past the 
tops of the ridges are covered with luxuriant herb¬ 
age. This goes on growing until April, when it 
is necessary to prepare the ground for the rice. 
The ridges are then levelled, and the manure plants 
are scattered in a fresh state over the surface of the 
ground. The fields are flooded, and the plow and 
harrow are employed to turn up and pulverize the 
soil. The manure, thus scattered over the ground 
and half buried amongst mud and water, begins to 
decay immediately, and gives out a most disagreea¬ 
ble putrid smell. This mode of manuring is gene¬ 
rally adopted in all the rice lands in this part of 
China, and the young paddy doubtless derives 
strong nourishment from the ammonia given out in 
the decompostion of this fresh manure. 
Fire wood is so scarce in the country that a 
great portion of the straw, cotton stalks, and grass, 
which would go to manure the fields, is used for 
firing, and therefore, the plan of growing manure 
for the land is forced upon the farmers by necessi¬ 
ty. The plan of using manure in a fresh state, I 
instead of allowing it first to decay, has doubtless 
been found from long experience to be the best for 
the young paddy. The Chinese farmer is not a chem¬ 
ist ; he knows little or nothing of vegetable physiol¬ 
ogy, but his forefathers have hit accidentally upon 
certain systems which are found in practice to suc¬ 
ceed, and to these he himself adheres, and hands them 
down unchanged to his children. 
When the first crop of rice is cut, the second, 
which has been planted in the alternate rows, is 
left to grow and ripen in the autumn; the ground 
is stirred up, and the stubble and part of the straw 
of the first crop is immediately worked up with the 
mud and water between the rows; this decays in 
the same manner as the trefoil in spring, and affords 
manure to the second crop. Prawns and fish of 
various kinds are frequently used for the same pur¬ 
pose and in the same way. 
Burnt earth, mixed with decomposed vegetable 
matter, is another highly-esteemed manure, and is 
common in all the agricultural districts. During the 
summer months, nil sorts of vegetable rubbish are 
collected in heaps by the-road sides, and mixed with 
straw, grass, parings of turf, &c., which are set on 
fire and burnt slowly for several days, until all the 
rank vegetable matter is decomposed, and the whole 
reduced to a rich black earth. It is then turned 
over several times, when it presents the appearance 
of vegetable mould. This manure is not scattered 
over the land, but reserved for covering the seeds, 
and is applied in the following manner :—When the 
seed time arrives, one man makes the holes, another 
follows and drops in the seeds, and a third puts a 
handful of this black earth on the top of them. 
Being principally vegetable matter, it keeps the 
; seeds loose and moist during the period of germi- 
; nation, and afterwards affords them nourishment. 
! This manure is useful, mechanically as well as 
: chemically, in a stiff soil, like that of the low lands 
• of China, where the seeds are apt to be injured in 
the process of germination. The young crop thus 
planted acquires a vigor in its first growth, which 
enables it to assimilate the matter that forms 
the strong stiff soil, and to strike its roots firmly 
into it. 
What is commonly known by the name of oil 
cake, with us, is broken up and used in the same 
manner as the vegetable earth, and is also scattered 
broadcast over the land. The oil cake is the re¬ 
mains or refuse of the seeds of several different 
plants, such as the tallow tree, cabbage (Brassica 
chinensis ), and various kinds of beans. There is 
a great demand for this manure in all parts of the 
country, and it forms a very considerable branch of 
trade, both by land and sea. Bones, shells, old lime, 
soot, ashes, and all kinds of rubbish, are also eagerly 
bought up by the farmer for the purpose of manure. 
In the Fatee gardens, near Canton, the proprietors 
have a curious kind of rich mud, which they cut up 
into small square bits, and sell at a very high price 
for the growing of plants in pots. This is obtained 
chiefly from the ponds and lakes in the vicinity 
where the favorite water lily, or lotus, grows. 
Application of Night Soil .—For crops in a vigor¬ 
ous growing state, no kind of manure is so eagerly 
sought after as night soil, and every traveller in 
I China has remarked the large cisterns, or earthen 
tubs, which are placed in the most conspicuous and 
convenient situations for the recepiion of this kind of 
manure. What would be considered an intolerable 
nuisance in every civilized country on the globe, is 
here looked upon by all classes, rich and poor, with 
the utmost complacency; and I am convinced that 
nothing would astonish a Chinaman more, than 
hearing any one complain of the stench which is 
continually rising from these manure tanks. Al¬ 
most every Chinese town is placed on the banks ot 
a river or canal, and the water is generally led, not 
only round the walls, thus forming a kind of moat, 
but also through many parts of the city. Long 
clumsy boats are placed in different departments of 
the town, into which the night soil and urine are 
emptied and conveyed from thence into the country. 
The fields in the neighborhood of cities are gene¬ 
rally supplied with it by coolies, who go every 
morning to market loaded with the produce of their 
farms. Each brings home two buckets of this 
manure, slung at the ends of his bamboo pole. It 
is generally supposed that the Chinese carry the night 
soil and urine to these tanks, and leave it there to 
undergo fermentation, before they apply it to the 
land. This, however, is not the case. In the 
fertile agricultural districts in the north, 1 have 
observed that the greater part of this stimulant is 
used in a fresh state, being of course sufficiently 
diluted with w r ater before it is applied to the crops. 
And there can be little doubt that in this, the 
Chinese are perfectly right, as the manure must be 
much more efficient in this state than when a great 
portion of its ammonia has passed off into the air. 
The Chinese, as far as I could learn, have no mode 
