River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1894-09-27
CHINESE FARMERS.
Their successful Operations on Long Is
land.

laHtt
Over on Long Island, at a place
known as Steinway, You can find JOAN
Chinaman on his natir 'ath, as ii
were.
Here You may seel m in queer clothes
md queer houses, raising queer prod
pets, and with a queer-looking pagodo-
like summerhouse near by, to lend a
real celestial air to his surroundings.
1t seems like a bit # China dropped
into rural New York. 1t is a special
feature of the district and is pointed
out as an inducement to summer board
ers.
If you would learn how to husband
the natural resources of tho soil go wit
ness a Chinese farmer at work. He can
give points to the most thrifty squat
ter that ever worked a Harlem field.
Several fortunes have been made at
Steinway, and their owners are now
enjoying them in China.
The Chinese farming community of
Long Island was started back in the
eighties by .Shen 10. who lost his
fortune in his native lan2 and came to
remalxe ii in America. Now there are
several truclI-farmers there, and the
profits are divided among them. The
same system prevails among the vege-
table gardeners of California.
The Chinese farmer lives in squalor.
A laundry in the slums or squatter's
shanty are nothing to il. The farm
house is mere hut made of old boards
knocked together and some tar paper
nailed over them. There is an odor of
opium and another of the Joss around
the place, although decaying vege-
tables contribute their share of the
general dizziness. Old boxes and
baskets lie around and lumber up the
passageways; old fruit cans and paper
scraps fill the chinlxs, as it were. and /.
general debris covers the ground.
John generally selects tree near
running water under which To build
his house. and while the house is pretty
sure to he dirty the fields are the pink
of neatness in all that pertains to good
farming. Vegetables are his strong
hold, and only the Chinese varieties are
raised. Johns best customer is Mott
street. In the field he wears his native
hat, uses primitive tools and generally
does everything upside down. Even
his explanations sre topsy tuSvy. but
then everyone knows that he writes
backward He never puts his phos-
pilates in the ground; he just sprinlxlcs
them along the top of the hill. 1t is
queer stuff, too, which ,ooks like SCOT.
He plants his vegetables upon hill
with deep gullies on either side lie
builds trelliscs and trains his vines
upon them, and then when the fruit is
ripe crawls underneath on his back and
ships it off with a pair of shears.
But such fruit No Jersey or Della
ware horticulturist grows more tooth
some products. His squashes, cucum.
bers, tomatoes and pumpkins ha re a
reputation. His beans sometimes weigh
three to the pound-by the way, he
sells everything by the pound. lie has
succeeded in raising ginger and sugar
cane and ginseng of a toothsomeness
which makes him the best-praised man
in Mott street-when he goes there.
The rural Chinaman is "A thorough
believer in irrigation. The whole sub
soil of his farm is network of water
pipes. Every plot of ground has a wa
ter-barrel placed on one side and pipe
and faucet leading thereto. To show
how queerly he worl1s-after leading
the water all under his fields tc his
water barrel, he laboriously lifts it out
by the bucketful and throws it over the
growing plants.
But in the field he is a picturesque
figure in his umbrella-shaped hat.
From daylight until dark he is at it,
stopping only to eat. and after dark he
still goes on, carrying his pailfuls OF
water over the fields. 1t would be par-
fcctly useless for an agent to try to sell
him such a labor-saving device as .
garden-hose. He could not understand
such modern invention.
But after all he fills his niche. It is
a profitable niche, of course, but he
would not fiji il if it wasn't. lie is an
autocrat in Chinatown and an example
to the American market-gardener. lie
disturbs no one and wants no one &c
disturb him. He tolls and slaves, only
in hope of the happiness ard content.
ment and ease he will find when he re.
turns to his native land-N. Y. World.