Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-14

oriental culture may Eeom to the Amer ican farmer, it is worth studying when one sees their crop of radishes grow as big as cur average sized tuInips and each of their beans weighing almost one-third of pound. They have n white radish which measures fully inches in length and is from l l4 to inches in diameter.
 Curious Vegetables.
 Among tho vegetables grown by the Chinese on their Astoria farms is n species of mushroom as hard as stone and ns black as ink. These are very expensive. Before being cooked it is necessary to put them 13 hours in water, and when taken out they are soft and swell to twice their for mcr size. Among the other vegetables of their own peculiar cultivation entitled to distinction arc the white melon, gourds, parsley, water crosses, beans, gow foi, pong soi and dunk gwar.
 The leaves of the Chinese water crosses are slender and taper down to n point. The stem is hollow and is used by juvenile Mongolians in tho Flowery Kingdom for whistles. The pong soi is sort of lettuce. the leaves of which look as if they had been polished. so brilliant is their gloss. Cow fOi is a species of garlic which throws up long, pale green spikes. It sells for 20 cents n bunch. The vine of the dunk gwar resembles that of our watermelon, except that it Is not so juicy. The flower is a yellow five leavcd blossom, and the fruit often weighs 10 pounds. This vegetable costs 65 cents a pound. Tho Chinese pumpkin Is melon shaped and of a ligE; green color, ribbed with stripes of darker hue. When ripe, the pumpkin sells for 20 cents a pound and the Celestial beans and peas for 80 cents.
 Some of the Chinese farmers in Astoria have become so wealthy that they include white men among their farm help. 4 Farmer Home.
 Tho homes of the Chinese farmers con sist of a number of littlo shanties of pecul- | jar architectural design built with the cheapest scantlings and covered over with tarred paper. The first thing you strike in approaching these chateaux, which stand 1 in tho center of the farms, is sort of let ! ter box adorned with stationary black | sign covered with cabaliStic figures that | look equally like tea chest bit of litera- ] ture or prescription for the chillS. Ask | pigtail what the inscription means, and | he draws himself into his shell and says: | "No sabe.' Nobody sabes anything. | All this is a dismal, unmeaning blank when you get down to inquiries.
 In the rear of the shanties are the barns and sausage factories. where fowls are | hepI anu pOTh SauSaSCS nlanuIaCIureu. Here also may be seen a bronze rod about 213 feet long, with n pound weight hang ing from one end of it and a shallow bas ket suspended from n string on the other. | This Is where all tho vegetables art weighed before taking them to market, There are numbers along the rod which enable the wCigher to ascertain tho quan, tity of goods which he is sending to the | market.
 ! The Chinese farmer has a mortal dread of the camera, which he believes is an in | vention of the evil one. When tried tc get snap shot at one of the farmers re gently, he plunged wildly into his hut and closed the door behind him. It would not be wise for paleface to follow John into the hut, for the Chinese farmer is usually armed with long cabbage knife, and il is not safe for the troublesome Caucasian | to experiment too much on his temper.
 No portion of the cosmopolitan popula tion of Long Island City presents such panorama of picturesque anomalies as thi colony of Chinese farmers. Here virtue and vice display their characteristics, pov