20 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
CHINESE PRODUCTS OF INTEREST TO 
NURSERYMEN 
By Julsan Arnold, Commercial Allache, Peking, in 
Commercial Reports. 
The West has iiiueh to learn from China’s dietary. It 
is far more seentifie thaii westerners are inclined to be¬ 
lieve. It is rich and economical. Many of the })rodiiets 
in the Chinese dietary could he advantageously adopted 
hy occidental countries. The writer has yet to find the 
Chinese who, after years of absence abroad, returns to 
his country preferring the Western dietary to that of his 
ow n people. Oji the other hand, scores of westerners in 
China are as fond of Chinese food as they are of their 
ow n, and some seem to prefer it. At all events, there are 
Chinese dishCs that have come into great favor w ith wes' 
terners living in China. 
The Chinese use many varieties of fungi in theii 
dietary. Dried mushrooms are popular with Chinese 
everyw here. They are gradually assuming a position of 
importance in the ex])ort trade. In 1917 China exported 
200 tons; it is likely that this amount includes fungi 
other than mushrooms, as the customs authorities prob¬ 
ably do not distinguish. Foochow'^ is the center of this 
trade. It ex])orted to other ])orts in China and to foreign 
countries a total of 300,000 pounds of dried edible fungi. 
They are growu in the mountainous districts in the in¬ 
terior of Fukien, on hardw ood togs felled for the ])urpose. 
Incisions are made in the logs, liciuid manure is poured 
over the incisions, straw is covcu'cd over them, and when 
this is w^ell rotted the fungi spring forth. So re])orts 
Consul Pontius, of Foochow^ who also states that snow% 
frost, and rain are necessary to insure a good crop of 
tasty fungi, and that the w inter crop is considered more 
delicious than the spring crop. 
Narcissus Rules —A short distance inland from Amov 
there is a bit of marshy ground w hich produces the bulk 
of the narcissus bulbs that are so highly prized hy Chin¬ 
ese everywhere and that for many years have been an ar¬ 
ticle of export. Three million bulbs is the usual quantity 
Iiroduced annually for shipment, one-third of these go¬ 
ing abroad. Once each year during the month of Jiily a 
trans-Pacific steamer calls at Amoy to take on a ship¬ 
ment of these bulbs to supply the trade in the United 
States, consisting mostly of Cantonese people. 
The southern Provinces of China produce many var¬ 
ieties of oranges, the most famous of which is the de¬ 
licious sw^eet Swutow “honey orange,” of which 6,000 
tons are exported annually. Mr. Meyer says that 80 
different varieties of oranges are produced in China. 
Jujubes and Persiaimons. Erroneously Called 
“Dates”—Other Chinese Fruits— North and West 
China produce excellent varieties of jujubes, which 
w hen dried are erroneously termed red dates, as w^ell as 
jiersimmons. wdiich when dried are erroneously called 
black dates. These make excellent confections for table 
use. China exfiorts about 3,000 tons of black and red 
dates” liesides producing large (juantities consumed lo¬ 
cally. The jujubes are eaten frc.sh, dried, stewed, or 
smoked. When dried they somewhat resemble a large 
dried date. They are boiled in sugared w ater, then dried. 
Honey is added for the best grades. 
China is rich in fruits, although scientific methods 
have not been applied in their growth, cultivation, and 
care. In the north, peaches, apricots, pears, grapes, 
a])ples, persimmons, plums, haws, and jujubes are 
grown in plentiful quantities and numerous varieties. In 
Central China, peaches, loquots, apricots, pears, and 
plums, and in South China oranges, pomeloes, lungnans, 
lichees, loquots and bananas are found in abundance. 
Mr. Frank N. Meyer, exjilorer for the United States De¬ 
partment of x\griculture, has written an interesting re- 
])ort, entitled “China’s Fruits and Nuts,” wdiich may be 
obtained from the Department of Agriculture. 
Sources and Characteristics of Gallnuts— Gallnuts, 
or oak apples, are jiroduced by insects on certain trees, 
the Pihus javanica and the Rhus polaninii, found in 
mountainous regions of West Hujieh, Hunan, Kweichow, 
Szechw an, and Kwangsi. “The galls are oblong, rougb, 
and tubular, the shell hard, brittle, and gummy, and the 
hollow' center has a cottony ball, the covering of the 
pupa.” They are used to dye silks black, in tanning, • 
and as medicine. They are reputed to furnish the finest 
tanning extract in the world. China exports gallnuts to 
the value of 1,000,000 taels a year—about 15,000 tons— 
75 jier cent going to the United States, which now con¬ 
trols this trade. Hankow' and Chungking are the prin¬ 
cipal ports of export. 
Ginger and Galangal —Ginger {Zingiber officinale) is 
grown in the West River and hilly districts of north¬ 
western Kwangtung, throughout Szeclnvan, and in cer¬ 
tain central Provinces. It is eaten to a considerable ex¬ 
tent in the green state as a condment and a corrective. 
The jireserved ginger comes mostlyl from Canton. Ga¬ 
langal (Alpinia officinarum) is sometimes mistaken for 
ginger proper. It belongs to the ginger family. The root 
is smaller than that of the ginger, being usually about 
tw o indies long and half an ineb thick. It tastes like a 
combination of ginger and jiejijier. It is used as a pre¬ 
serve, like ginger, and also medicinally, k good deal of 
it goes to the United States as ginger. It is cultivated in 
the island of Hainan, off the Kw'angtung coast. China 
exports about 1,000 tons of galangal and 5,000 tons of 
ginger annually. 
Caaiphor^ Cinnamonum camphora-The campbor of com¬ 
merce is made from the camphor tree by destructive dis¬ 
tillation. The trees, after reaching 50 years of age. are 
cut down, chipped, the chips boiled in vats, and the dis¬ 
tillate collected in crystals upon straw'. It is put through 
a refining process. Camphor is used mainly in the manu¬ 
facture of celluloid, smokeless powder, fireworks, and 
medicines. The island of Fonnosa, where the camphor 
is held as a Japanese Government monopoly, supplies 
about 75 per cent of the wurld’s consumption. German 
chemists produced a synthetic camphor, but because of 
the use of turpentine, wdiich constantly increased in 
value, this only has the effect of keeping the monopoly 
prices from ascending to unreasonable figures. Japanese 
interests tried about 12 years ago to secure a monopoly 
on the production of camphor in Fukien Province, the 
main source of China’s supply, but failed. As there has 
been no systematic replanting in China, the number of 
trees has continually decreased until Fukien’s supplies 
