The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1894-08-24

Mr.. III. w. Hazletine, in review
ing Simcox's "I'rimitirC CiUilizd-
tiOH," for the New York Sun, says
The author Of this book repro
duces Nj. Simon's account Of his
visit TO the house Of a small agri-
culturist, one Wang Ming-Tse, who
owned and titled a little over four
and a half acres. The rejection to
which the European stranger was
invited consisted Of fish IN broth,
ducks and chickens, pork and NUT
ton, vegetables of different sorts, a
variety of entremets, sweet and
picked, with, Of course, the usual
bowl Of rice, and sweets, fruits,
cakes, rice, wine and liqueurs for
dessert this, il seems, was only
the usual holiday fare Uf the family.
How many acres. one naturally
asks, would an English tenant or
an American farmer have 10 till 10
be able, without improperly, TO
sport visiting cards, pay morning
calls, and invite distinguished for
eigners to such a luncheon as we
have described, or to afternoon tea
made Of the new-seasOn buds, which
in China itself are worth two d0l-
lars a pound M. Simon remarks
that if he had alighted suddenly in
France upon a household living in
the same style of ease and comfort
as Wang. .Ming-Tse, he would as-
sume them TO be the owners Of 100
acres Of good, sunny land, or peo-
pie living on an income Of at least
fifteen hundred dollars year.
This cullivator, as we have said had
four and One-half acres, but the Wis
itor found that in the neighborhOod
holdings OF one, or one and half
acres were by no means uncommon.
In less fertile parts Of China the
same observer found farmer own
ing less than Q acres who was saving
at the rate Of 1875 a year, and an
other with two and and a half acres
who put by yearly sl60. We should
have mentioned that Wang Ming
Tse, with his four and a half acres,
saved 5000 and spent $500 a year.
Other travellers, while less cnthu-
siastic than M. Simon, give substan-
TALLY similar information. The
truth is that the Chinese DO not
farm, they garden, and when the
soil Of vast empire is subjected TO
intense methods of cultivation, tho
gross production admits Of almost
indefinite increase. Capt. Gill
thought that while one acre Of wheat
in Europe would support two men,
one acre in China would probably
support twenty. M. Simon, who
made a more careful calculation,
computed that one acre in China
will feed twelve persons on a very
liberal scale. s. Wells Williams
estimated that over a quarter Of the
country produces two crops a year
there is hardly any fall0w land, and
there are large districts in which
three, four, five, and even six crops
are got off the ground in succession.
The productivenoss Of Chinese
farms is not merely owing, hOwev-
er, to a more favorable climate and
soil, for English market gardeners
get several crops in the year of tho
same ground. 1t is probable, in-
deed, that if the whole of England
were cultivated like market gar
den the soil would provide food, at
least vegetable food, for the whole
population, without the need OF i'm
ports. nj. Simon arrives at the
conclusion that, as agriculturistsy
the Chinese peasantry have nothing
10 learn from the scientific farming
on n large scale, which is consid-
cred most productive in Europe. A
fraction Of an acre in rape or sugar
cane produces heavier crops than
French enterprise with all modern
Appliances. The rude processes oi
manufacture in use do not, 1t y
true, ALLOW the same quantity Of oil
or sugar TO be produced per hun
dred weight Of seed or cane, but the
skill OF the grower more than makes
up for the inferiority ofthe manufac-
turer. and the final account shows
Al .,,rarforify io rest with tho