473 
NOTES PROM "FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS. 
Mr*. C. V. Piper, who is traveling as an agricultural 
explorer of this office, gives the following description in 
his letter of July 11, of the water gardens around Canton, 
which show the remarkable way in which the Chinese utilize 
their swamp land: 
At the western end of the city of Canton 
is an extensive area of flat swamp lands which have been 
utilized "by the Chinese in a highly developed system of water 
gardens. The land has been divided in small paddies of an 
acre or so, usually less, each surrounded by a dyke. These 
paddies are always covered with water visually one or two feet 
deep. Five different crops are grown in regular rotation, 
namely, lotus (Nelumbium speciosum) , Chekoo(Sagittaria chinen- 
sis), Kausun ( Zi zania ) , water chestnut , (Eleochar is tuberosa?), 
and Lingkok( Trapa bicornis). A sixth crop also occurs, 
Ongchog( Ipomoea reptans), hut this, as I understand, does. not 
enter into rotation, whole paddies or parts of them being 
devdted constantly to this plant. At the present season 
(July 10) the principal crops are lotus and Trapa, .. but these 
are "being harvested and in a few cases the harvest completed. 
At the edge of most paddies is a row of Kausun or of 
Sagittaria or "both, to he used as "seed". As soon as the 
lotus is harvested the paddy is planted to Kausun. The seed 
plants of this are now about six feet out of the water. In 
transplanting this is cut off to two or three feet, the tufts 
separated into parts of about three culms each., and planted, 
in rows four feet wide, the plants about two feet apart in 
the rows. One mother plant. I had dug up had a single stolon 
two feet long about as large as a lead pencil, the joints two 
to three inches long. Prom the crop now being planted the 
crop, will be obtained in about two months -.• 
Trapa is planted from the seeds in the spring; water 
chestnuts from the corms in the fall; Sand Sagittaria from the 
robts also . in the fall . Lotus yield both a 6rop of root- 
stocks , resembling a string of large sausages, and the pods, 
both of which are now in the market in abundance. Another 
variety is grown only for the flowers . This information is 
the best I could get except in the case of Kausun of which 
I saw new paddies just planted. Most of the Kausun planting 
will be in about two weeks. 
The dykes between the paddies are often planted to 
trees, especially loongan and leitchee.' On the edges of the 
dykes one frequently sees taro(Colocasia) . The Chinese all 
say the Kausen does not produce seed which is probably true 
as they cultivate it. 
