1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
563 
Fig. 4.— THE SHANTY ON THE HILLSIDE. 
Dt'avm and Engraved for the American Agriculturist, 
they rent and own land on both sides of the Bay, 
one or two hours’ journey into the interior.—Their 
truck boats form a singular and picturesque fea¬ 
ture of the glorious Bay at early morning. They 
are characteristic craft, long, low, and capacious, 
with sails of irregular shapes, made of matting 
and frequently decorated with grotesque symbols 
in colors. These truck boats, and the Chinese 
fishing fleet, are as unique in construction and 
character as the strange people who use them. 
It is extremely difficult to get at any facts from 
the Chinese farmers themselves. They are suspi¬ 
cious of all outside inquiry, and resent any atten¬ 
tions from the “ ’Melican man,” not of a strictly 
business character. We endeavored to discover 
the tenure by which they hold their land, and found 
it a serious investigation indeed. They squat 
wherever they get a chance, and if no chance ex¬ 
ists they rent a site for their campaign against 
hunger, or buy one if they have the money. The 
close economy they practice enables them to pay 
better rents than white men who live comforta¬ 
bly and educate their families; so that, even where 
good land is scarce and high, they get a footing. 
Though leading far more decent lives than the 
wretched denizens of the Chinatown district of 
San Francisco, the farmers still exist in a condi¬ 
tion revolting to our civilized ideas and tastes. 
Their houses are mere dens of darkness, the 
smallest that can possibly shelter the inmates ; the 
walls, lined with bunks, leave scarcely room 
enough to pass one another. Farmer and hands 
subsist on the least expensive fare—fish, rice, and 
vegetables not up to the market standard, being 
their staple diet. Their luxury is a pig. Every 
Chinese farm has a sty containing a pig fattened 
on the refuse of the fields, and a roast-pork dinner 
from time to time fully atones with John for the 
•ordinary meagre fare that barely sustains life. 
Winter Feed for Milch Cows. 
—o— 
The increasing demand for milk in 
our cities and villages, and for gilt- 
edged butter, during the winter sea¬ 
son, is leading some of our most in¬ 
telligent farmers to study more care¬ 
fully the problem of winter dairying. 
It costs more to make butter in win¬ 
ter thau in summer, but if a select 
class of customers in cities, or else¬ 
where, are willing to pay for the in¬ 
creased cost of producing it fresh in 
zero- weather, then there is no good 
reason why they should not be grati¬ 
fied. Its feasibility is already estab¬ 
lished on a small scale, and there 
seems to be no discernible limit to the 
demand for a first-class article during 
the six months when the pastures are 
barren. The farmer who has the capi¬ 
ta], can readily provide a barn that 
will make his cows nearly as comfort¬ 
able and healthy in winter as in sum¬ 
mer, and shelter all the food they need 
to keep up a constant flow of rich 
milk. We have not yet attained, per¬ 
haps, all the information necessary to 
secure the best rations for winter 
milking, yet we are approximating to¬ 
ward that knowledge. Some think 
they have found in ensilage the one 
thing needful. Tet some of the par¬ 
ties dealing in gilt-edged butter begin 
to complain of that made from rations 
consisting largely of ensilage. We 
shall probably have to put down early- 
cut hay with the flavor of June grass 
in it, as an essential part of the winter 
rations for first-class butter. We 
doubt if the bouquet of the June- 
made article can be found elsewhere. 
Another ration will be Indian meal, 
our great national cereal, which is 
abundant and cheap, and likely to con¬ 
tinue so. Then we want green succulent 
food with the dry fodder,to sharpen the 
appetite, and help the digestion. This 
suggests roots as another ration. We have carrots, 
mangolds, and sugar beets, all easily raised, and 
cheaply stored in barn cellars, or in pits. And from 
our own experience in using them during several 
winters, in connection with dry feed, we judge them 
to be a safe ration in butter making. Cabbage 
also is available, and, in districts remote from large 
markets, might be grown for this purpose. Near 
cities, it is probably worth more for human food 
than for fodder. This whole subject is yet in the 
tentative state, and all are looking for further light. 
Draining Prolongs the Season. 
A case showing the utility of draining recently 
occurred under our observation. A portion of the 
field, underlaid with clay and hard pan, that kept 
the water near the surface, was drained in the fall 
of 1882. Crookneck squashes and other crops 
Fig. 6.—A CHINESE GARDENER. 
were planted in 1883 — about the middle of May — 
where the ground originally was so wet that it did 
not admit of planting until June. Several hills of 
squashes were planted at a distauce from the drain, 
while chance seeds dropped in the manure came up 
within a few feet of another main drain. The first 
week in September came a cold snap which killed 
the squash vines in the first location, leaving a por¬ 
tion of the crop about half grown. This, and the 
subsequent frosts of that month, did not injure the 
vines near the drain, and they were still vigorous 
when the squashes were gathered in October. The 
same influence in prolonging the season was no¬ 
ticed in the beet crop growm upon the undrained 
land in 1882 and the same crop grown in 1883. The 
Fig. 5.— A Chinese vegetable Garden in TnE GULLY. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
