Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-01-29
CHINESE FARMS IN sTElNWAYt
Curious Spot Where Vegetables Are
Raised for the Mott Street Market.


peddlers Some have stands on the
streets and others occupy the stoops
and Railways of the Chinese tenement
houses. If You are very early bird, and
get around at about in the morning,
you will see several wagons, loaded
with vegetables and drawn by scrawny
horses, come up Mott street The drivers
arc ordinary white men, but seated be-
side them are Cinnamon. There is one
Chinaman in each wagon.
The arrival of these wagons is the
signal for the vegetable peddlers to
come down and buy. Each wagon is
surrounded by them. They peer into
tho bags and barrels, and examine the
vegetables critically. The driver sits
holding the reins, while the Chinaman
by his side attends to the business, ex-
hibiting attractive specimens and rapid
ly figuring up the prices of vegetables
selected by the peddlers.
The Chinaman on the wagon has a
healthier appearance than his brethren
on the sidewalk and his face is more
sun-burned and yet clearer in color
than theirs. The vegetables that he
has for sale are odd things and the
American farmer would be puzzled to
find names for them. They seem to be
something like the native vegetables
and yet they are different The Chinese
rarely use any other. The laundrymen
from all parts of this city, Brooklyn,
and Jersey City may be seen buying at
the stands and Juggling Off big bags full
OF vegetables The biggest dealers
ship quantities to otherci especially
to Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
All are raised on American soil from
Chinese seeds.
Over in busy Steinway is pictur-
esque stretch of ground covering about
three and half acres. 1t can be seen
from the horse cars as they turn down
the main road to the horse railroad
depot. From there it appears to be
only lofty bit of broken ground COW
cred with little gardens here and there.
Hedges of curious vines run along one
side, and poles covered with vines stand
out in spots like lonely sentinels. Four
ramshackle, implanted huts peer
through the vines and bushes They
have matched roofs and look as if they
might be storehouses for the products
of the farm. Even in Goatville the
huts do not look SO wretched as these;
yet there is picturesqueness about them
which makes even the old settlers pause
as they pass by. They are the houses
of the owners and workmen on the
Chinese farms.
There are four FARMS and each is in
dependent of the others, but no one
would know it unless he inquired. For
twelve years this place has been worked
by Cinnamon, but the original farmers
long since went back to their native
land, probably rich enough to buy big
farms and marry and raise families.
| The land belongs to resident of Stein
way named Conover, and he is said to
get pretty good rents from his tenants.
Each farm is worked by three China
men. The assistants are mostly young
| fellows.
On the day when the reporter visited
the farms several men were busy in the
field digging up the late vegetables. 1t
was raining, and they wore curious
hats of plated split bamboo, which
where fiat on top, circular, and about
twenty inches wide. One of the China
men was piling up lot of vegetables
near the biggest hut. Although it was a
cold day he wore only light, loose
Chinese costume, and his bare feet was
stuck in heelless slippers The master
was away, he said; he had gone to
Chinatown to sell some produce. He
was only an assistant He could speak
English only very imperfectly, but he
was extremely good-natured and very
different from the distrustful evasive
Cinnamon in Mott street. He tried to
explain to the reporter the names and
purposes of the different vegetables
A monstrous green fuzzy melon, that
looked like watermelon covered with
mouldy moss, was said to be Chinese
cucumber and was called wong-wa.
Some greens that resembled discarded
turnip tops were, said the Chinaman,
gui-tui, and the rest of the same turnips
were lou-bak. Chinese celery, or some
thing identical in appearance with the
American vegetable, was bak-tui. The
spinach-like greens were hong-tui, and
the Chinaman said they were used for
salad. The most curious of all was a
long, slender melon that looked like a
thin cucumber covered with spikes
This was lak-wa. Its seeds were cut
up and boiled. The hedges which lined
the road on the south end of the farm
bore Chinese string beans.
The men working in the field were
quite as frank and pleasant as the first
Chinaman, but they understood even
less English, and were unable to com
prehend any of the reporters questions
The reporter was struck with the reg
ularity of the rows of plants and the
apparent fertility of the soil Water
pipes had been brought in, and seversI
Cinnamon were busy drawing water
and carrying it in pals to various parts
of the farms. On the upper edge Of
the last farm the reporter met Lou We
the owner Lou We spoke very fail
English, and said that he had beer
farming there for several years, bu
had not yet been able to make it pay.
"All the seeds we use, p" he said, com,
from China, We don't grow your vege
tables, because Cinnamon don't know
how to use them. Sometimes we havt
seeds left over that we can use, but i
the winter is cold they spoil This ha
been bad season for u.s. It was too
dry in June, July and August, and to-
wet in September. Lots of our vegeta
bles rotted before they were ripe. TIL
biggest of these farms is Lee Wah's
: He raises more than he can sell w
! were all farmers in China, and we worl
here as we did there"
Ars vO,,Ob uoupo man II