28 
Central China rice forms 3/4- of the total amount 
of food the ordinary people take in; meat and fish 
supply a mere fraction and the rest is taken into 
the form of beans, peas, lotus-rhizomes, various 
roots and tubers and in leafy vegetables, the last 
in bulk often looking predominant, but being only 
coarse matter, really amount to a small percentage 
of the total. 
Concerning Dr. McCollum's idea that leafy 
green vegetables are essential in the human diet, 
well, this is a mooted question. The Russians at 
large use but few leafy. herbs, and thousands of 
coY/boys, especially in the Argentine, live on an 
almost pure meat diet. Of all of the leafy 
greens the Chinese love especially those belong- 
ing to the cabbage and mustard group; it seems 
that the race has found out that they supply 
some essential factors. Spinach also is in 
great demand but it is a much dearer vegetable 
than various cabbages. Concerning Chinese sub- 
stitutes for dairy products, well, the 101 dif- 
ferent manufactures of the soy bean supply this 
protein, but I must admit that it v^ill take 
some time for the v/hite races to acquire the 
taste of the very large majority of these 
products.--V/e are still at it, but being without 
an intertjreter I don't find out as much as I 
would like. 
I am glad to notice your statement re the 
long-wanted Peitcheng peach. And having come 
true from seed surely surprises me. 
Concerning curd made from acorns, I have 
not come across it yet; it seems to be rather 
a country product. 
Concerning lubricants for aeroplanes the 
Chinese say that hemp oil ( Cannabis sativa ) does 
not congeal even in very cold weather. Has it 
been tried to your knowledge? 
I see your remarks concerning Prof. Reimer 
and the pear situation. Cooperation v/ith outside 
people always presents peculiar problems. If 
Prof. Reimer had come down quicker to Kingraen I 
would have escaped the revolution in Hupeh and 
life would have been far more satisfactory . -- 
The pear seeds which I now have v/ith me may not 
germinate to a great extent, but -- by keeping 
them cool and possibly stratified in cold storage 
they may still give fair returns. 
September PI, 1918. 
