Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-08-05
AMoNo The rAaMuRs or SIAN.


AMONG The FARMERS or SIAM.
The biggest farmer In the World u th'
King ~ sism. lll. plantation u hys
times the lire II the State II New York
aud his field hands number slx millions
The other king. cf the far East have
only nominal right to their lands and
their subjects. The ~ismese King owns
hi, body and .oul. Every foot of terri
tory In III. realm belong. to him, aud his
pccple sre hi slaves. Slam ]. naturally
one of th, richest agricultural countries
of the far East. IT. .oil, poorly titled,
I. .o rich that u produces crop after
crop without the all ~ MANURE; aud
though not one-tw.ntleth of the land !.
cultivated II bring. the King an annual
harvest ~ slO, ,OpO.Opp aud be has a sur
plu. 10 ss0.0cn,oco pilc'i NJ In hls treas
ury.
siam l. great wc'lgc st the lower end
of th. vast renln.ulsr ot indo-C hina. II
I. bounded on the .llc. and at the TOP
by the French possessions of Topquin
sud the Engll.h principalliy of Rurm,h'
These two nations are casting their co'-
cious ewes upon u. u Il land of some
mountain. aud many valleys. The
mighty Mcnsm River fo~. from north
to south through u. and th. valley III
thl. I. on. of the richest agricultural ~
gIon. of the world. Forty mile. from
n. mouth ll.. BANGKOK, y town III
about soo,oc0 people, cnn,01 81 whom
Il,. In floating house. fastened To piles
along the hank. ~ the river. These
floating houses ar- found all along the
valley ~ the Mcnam. aud they line
IA. river. of the Interior. Daring the
ralny season q vast part ~ th. country
l. flooded. and tb. farmer. 80 frum "pe
part of u to another In boats. Many
farmer. live IN floating houses, AMI when
their estate. li- along the hank. ~ the
river they csn noai from one end ot their
little plantation to the other hy simply
loo.ing the hand. which blnd their hous-
- to ~. piles. The country has q sys-
tenn ~ land Laws, aud though the King
really own. every foot ~ u, snd could
connsciie estate. N he would, th. farm
~. have certain right ~ t.nur- io their
l.nd., ant q. long as they pay their
taNr. they eau buy snd .ell th"m aud
will them a. their children iu.t q. they
Be- In other countries. IN. taNc- con-
.iltu,. the king. rents, ani these arr
very high. Al land u taxed NJ ten pcr
cent of II. value. The crop. are taxed,
aud In fact everything that The farmer.
own must pay high rate "f TAXATION
There are nx.. on Import. and exports.
Al cultivated land. pay about sixty
cent. an acre. Fruit tr~cs pay tan.
Houses, whether floating Of stationary,
ar. tax-i. aud all sorts of boat. have
each their fNcd tax Ier wear. Floating
house. which have goods for sale pay
about 81 80 yearly for each room In the
house, and those u.-i az gambling shops
and lottery stations pay an additional
Icrrcntsgr. woo'icn posts pay tax 81
ten per c.ni. Frrwooi pays ten per
cent, aud vegetables. chlckrn., ducks
aud hogs must give q certain percentage
a. the government, according Ia their
weight. In addition Ia this there are
nscs on all Kind. II f.hing implements
on farm tools, AMI In .hor, on everything
that the Sltmese wear., eats az drinks.
The biggrst tax, however. u that 81 Ia
hor. This big fauner-klng has th"
right to call upon every one ~ hi. ten
ant. for three month. ~ hard labor dur
Inc ia. wear. ~. delegate. this right
Ca the governors of hl. province. sni
ih. head. ~ Villages. aDd the result u
that often when the farmers should bc
harvesting their own crops ihcy have to
turn In and hsr,es, tho.. ~ the king.
IN. women consequently, have Ia do the
greater par, ~ M. work, and the men
arr little ,-tisr than slaves. Til. thrc.
month. may l.. Increased a. the ncce.sl-
tie. ~ the King demand.
IN. Sisnss. farmers. like tho.s 81 all
other Eastern countries, hudilc together
I'm little village. ani they ~ out from
thee to work th~lr tleld. which sur
round the towns. Tbe hclhs sre unfcnc-
c,i. aud cattle arr herici all the year
around. Cattle thieves aDd crop thleN".
are numerous, ani u I. only 10y eternal
vigilance that the farmer. are able q"
.ayc their crops. The principal shme'e
crop I. rice. aud rice constitutes the fooi
of the people. There l. no brii"r coan.
try Ia th. world for rai.lng " than slam.
The IoNlansls are easily Irrigated ani
the ralny reason last. from May until
October. The climate l. tropical ani
the winter. are III. our summers. EN-
cryihlng grows almost spontaneously,
and two crop. q wear ar. not uncommon.
The ric- fields arr lsh of Ia lots of
about one-thiri of an acre, each sur
rounded by an rmhankment of eirth
ataut a foot aud half high for the pur-
pose of holding water when ih. lani u
prepared for pl ,nting. The ricc u hr.t
.proutei Ia little patches, aud when y u
foot high II !. pulled up, uei into
buuchs. aud taken Ca thesr little heii-,
which are then covered With about six
incl,e. of water. II l. there transplant
e,I, the men. women aud children bend
Ing over aud thrusting the stalk. deep
into the soft mud under the water. \
good workman can set out about third
of an acre dsy, and th. planting sea-
.on I. any time between June ani of"-
her. The harvest come. along about
Chri.ima., aud la many parts of the
country the.e rice fields are artificialIy
irrigated.
The irrigation of Siam Increase. every
year, aud Il !. chiefly the work of the
Chinese settlers. The siame-e them
selves, owing largely Ia their .erviiude
under the King are lazy aud do me-, ac-
cunulaie. Many of them 90 Into the
Buddhist priesthood, aud the bulk ofthe
work of the poor families l. done by the
women. The Chinese settlers are the
hard workers of Farther India. They
have "a PAY a poll-tax, but they are not
subject Ia forccd labor. They are In
dnstrious and economical, aud they come
by "a. thousands into slam. They mar
~ samr.e girl. anil In time acquire
property. Tie King !. very anxious to
Increase the culiiyatable area of Ills ter
ritory. aud he now leyles no tax for five
years on new fields, aud the man Who
clears land has n property right Ia u.
The Chinese In this way are fast eating
up Siam. They do the main part Of the
busine.. In bangkok. snd their numbers
are so large and immigration u 40 great
that the sisme-e race will eventually be
swallowed up by them.
These Chinese have Introduced their
methods of irrigation, aud there are
others which have been In sse from time
immemoriai. The ordinary methods are
much the same as those of other Eastern
countries Two women or girls dip up
water In n basket, pitched within aud