Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1860-06-15
CALIFORNIA CORRESPONDENCE.
OMEGA, NEVADA Co., CALrFoES1A,l
MAY 10th, 1860.

OMEGA, NEVADA Co., CALIFORNIA,
MAY 10th, 1860.
CHINESE GARDENING IN cALIFoRNIA.
There is one trait in the character of the
Chnaman for which he should be respected
if for nothing else; which is his love Of gar.
dcning. The Chinese are essentially farm.
ing and gardening people. Great attention
is paid by the government to agricultural af:
fairs; and once in each year the Emperor in
person, attended by the mobiles and high dig.
nitaries of the land, goes forth into the fields
and with his own hands performs some agri
cultural operation. The high priest Of tho
Empire offers up sacrifices, and with various
ceremonies they invoke the "Great Giver OF
Harvests" for continuance of his bounty
Even so carly as two thousand years 3. c.
the Chinese had made great progress in agri-
culture. Atthatperiod reigncd Yee the Great,
who was the head Of the earliest dynasty Of
which there are any authentic accounts, and
who caused embankments to be raised to
confinc the waters of the Great Yellow river
thus rcclaiming from waste and overflow an
immense tract of country on its DO: ders.-
This feat he commemorated by an inscription
carved on the face of cliff overlooking the
valley; and the country so reclaimed is still
the most fertile and populous in the Empire.
Draining, reclaimins overiowed lands, and
like undertakings, arc not the first steps of a
people in agriculture--a work Of the nature
mentioned, proves that the Chinese, long be-
fore, even so carly period as two thousand
years B. c., understood and practiced farm
ing, and that land for this purpose was be-
coming scarce.
But having now shown that the Chinese are
no new beginners in the science of agricul-
ture, will proceed to give sketch of their
mode of gardening as practiccd in this coun-
try.
In California, We may study Chinese hor-
ticulturc, and perhaps, learn quite as much
of the progress Of that science among them
as by taking trip to the Celestial Empire
for the especial purpose. "John" is always
found to do things Chinese fashion; he turns
up his nose at the time honored adage-
/" In Rome do as the Romans do" and like
the Hoosicr goes his "pile" on the way we
+" ust'er do back yonder." EXITS
The gardens of the Chinese in this country
are one solid mass ofverdure the year round !;
for John," having an eye to the "two
bitta's," has always some outlandish bean or
squash ready to stick into every spot Of
ground as soon as it is vacant. So he keeps
doing the year round, he has crops for all
seasons. The vegetables raised by him are
intended only for Chinese customers, and
most Of them are new and strange to Ameri-
cans. No doubt many Of these plants would
prove valuable acquisitions to our own stock
Of garden, and perhaps, field vegetables; bat
here there seems but little disposition to make
their acquaintance. This is, no doubt, ow-
ing in great degree in the first place, to a
dislike to "John'' himself; in the second to
the strange favor Of any new vegetable on
being tasted for the first time. If the Chi
nese had introduced the tomato in this coun.
try, they would have been allowed full mo-
nopoly of that fruit for at least five hundred
years; SO strong is the prejudice against
" China grub" among the miners. Where
ever Chinaman intends making his home
for any length Of time, he is sure to look out
for some warm sunny nook for garden. If
he is in the mountains or foothills, he selects
some sheltered dell or angle formed by q
ledge Of rock where two sides, perhaps, arc
ready fenced, if such spot can be found con-
venicnt to water; and here in a very short
time we will find "John'' in possession Of a
blooming garden. Sometimes they rent of
some ranch-man, or farm-owner, a few acres
Of ground and make business of raising veg
ctables for the supply Of their countrymcn
in the cities, villages and mines, employing
at some seasons Of the year thirty or forty
Chinese assistants.
Viewing Chinese garden in the spring,
we shall find leguminous plants to predom-
mate; during summer, squashes of various
kinds have almost sole possession; late in
the fall and during winter, the garden is a
solid bed of hob and other plants analogous.
Of the pulse there is quite variety; and