The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-09-02
Chinese Agriculture. A

Notwithstanding we are accustomed
TO look upon the natives of the Celestial
Empire with a certain degree of super
ciliousness. rs an inferior race, there
are many things in which they are not
only our equals but our superiors.
Among these may be mentioned agTi-
culture, which is the principal Occupa-
tion of the great mass of the people.
Next to letters agriculture is considered
in China rs the noblest occupation of
man, and in order TO remind these peo-
pie that it is the basis and foundation OF
society, the emperor himself and the
viceroy of the province once year per-
form the ceremony of blowing a few
burrows and sowing some one OF the ce-
real grains. The people are thus made
to understand that the poorest farmer Is
entitled to respect, since his pursuit Is
ennobled by the participation in 1t OF
the most exalted of human potentateS
known to him, and recognized rs one OF
the most necessary and exalted employ
ments. 1t is true that modern labor
saving machinery, and the chemistry
of agriculture are entirely unknown to-
the Chinaman, but it is equally
true that no nation on the earth
practices agriculture more thoroughly
or successfully than the Chinese. Their
implements are very rude, but their
practical skill and industry are without
parallel in any part of the world. We
have seen. some evidence of this in the
Chinese narket-gardenS of this State,
and it is quite certain, soil and capital
being equal, that no European or Amer
lean can excel them in the perfect clIlti-
vation of land for any purpose. They
are able to raise greater crops from a
given area than any other people under
the sun. Their system Of irrigation is
well-nigh perfect, and far in advance
of any thing attempted by west
ern nations, and then knowl-
edge of the value and useful
ness of manure is manifested in their
extreme care in collecting it from every
possible source in a country where very
few domestic animals are used. Very
few neat cattle or horses are to be found
in China, as the inhabitants make little
use of beef, milk, butter or cheese, and
either carry burdens upon bamboo poles
or transport them by water upon their
innumerable canals. Hence they are
forced to gather manures from other
sources. They make use Of all fecal
matter, muck, ashes, plaster, of1al,
hair (even the BARRIERS gathering and
saving the results of their tOnsOrial Ope-
rations and selling them to the farmerS),
and whatever else experience has taught
them has power to invigOrate the soil.
The density of thePopulation is SO great
that they cannot afford to let their fields
lie fallow, and, as they understand lit
tie about the rotation of crops, they are
compelled to maintain the productive
ness Of the soil by constant manuring
and irrigation. In the fertile country
between the Yellow and Yang-tee
Rivers, and south of the latter, two
crops per year are raised from the same
field. Neither fences nor hedges are
used, and travellers remark that the
cultivated plain appears like a vast gar.
den, in which the plats appear to be
mere beds.
With all our vAunted knowledge and
our best improved agricultural ma
chinery, they are probably as far in ad-
vance of the skilled cultivatOrs of Eu-
rope as the latter are ahead Of the ranch
men of the Pacific coast. Since, then,
the Chinese are among us, let us make
the best of their presence, and conde
scend to be taught a thorOughnesS of
culture which has been growing up in
Asia through scores of centmies-and
which, according to their accounts, has
been practised for twenty-three thou
sand years San francisco Chronicle.