Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1895-02-22

,ther edible delicacics. These bucolic art
.sts do not use strong liquors. If they get
o quarter or SO cents, they spend it for
opium. For SO cents they can nave at
least ten good smokes, which are equiva-
lent In effect to ten big drinks Of whisky.
The farmers, however, are dropping this
practice gradually, as those who use the
drug to any extent become weak, pale and
lazy.
John Chinaman is a great believer in
Irrigation. There is a pump on each of
the farms which is used almost i%ncessant-
ly in watering the crops.
The irrigation pump is in the center Of
the field, and a big long india rubber hose
extends to the circumference of the farm.
This is sometimes seen lying coiled among
the plants like q huge python. Whenever
rain does not come, John attaches the
nozzle of this hose to the water supply and
for hours at a time our q steady stream
OF water on the plants. On another por-
ton of the farm stands a liquid manure.
tank where the fertilizing ingredients be-
ing held in solution are by the same proc
ess distributed over the soil. Every grain
OF seed sown is handled separately and de-
posted in holes made by the hand. When.
the seed is planted, John heaps the ferti-
lizers on top. He grows his oucumbers,
squashes and other vegetables upside down,
and trains his vines on poles which are.
arched toward each other on the hills. It.
IS q treat never to be forgotten to see a
Chinese farmer lying on his back beneath,
the arbors shipping off the fruit with O.
nQtT 0f Ehnara Cfro - co 80 kIS1 - -
oriental culture may seem to the Amer
lean farmer, it is worth studying when
one sees their crop of radishes grow as big
+ as our average sized turnips and each Of
their beans weighing almost one-third Of
q pound. They have a white radish which.
measures fully s inches in length and is
from N to 2 inches in diameter.
Curious Vegetables.
Among the vegetables grown by the
Chinese on their Astoria farms Is a species
OF mushroom as hard as stone Inc as black
as INK. These are very expensive. Before
being cooked it is necessary to put them
~ hours in water, and when taken out
they are soft and swell to twice their for
mer size. Among the other vegetables Of
their own peculiar cultivation entitled to,
distinction are the white melon, gourds,
parsley, water crosses, beans, gov fol, pong
sol and dunk gwar.
The leaves of the Chinese water crosses
are slender n taper down to a point.
The stem is hollow and is used by juvenile
Mongolians in the Flowery Kingdom for
whistles. The pong sol is a sort of lettuce.
the leaves of which look as if they had
been polished, so brilliant is their gloss.
Cow fol is a species of garlic which throws
up long, pale green spikes. It sells for 25
cents a bunch. The vine of the dunk gwar
that of our Watermelon, except
that 1T Is not SO juicy. The flower is a
yellow five leaved blossom, and the fruit,
often weighs 40 pounds. This vegetable
costs 65 cents a pound. The Chinese
pumpkin is melon shaped and of a light
green color, ribbed with stripes of a 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.
A Farmer Home.
The homes of the Chinese farmers con-
sist of a number of little shanties of pecul-
lar architectural design built with the
cheapest scantlings and covered over will.
tarred paper. The first thing you strike
In approaching these chateaux, which stand
In the center of the farms, is a sort of let
ter box adorned with a stationary black
sign covered with cabalistic figures that
look equally like a tea chest bit of litera-
ture or a prescription for the chills. Ask
a plgtail what the inscription means, ana,
he draws himself into his shell and says:
NO sabe." Nobody sabes anything
All this is a dismal, u%nmeaning blank.
when you get down to inquiries.
In the rear of the shanties are the barns,
and sausage factories, where fowls are
kept and pork sausages manufactured.
Here also may be seen a bronze rod about
"a feet long, with a pound weight hang
ing from one end of it and a shallow bas-
ket suspended from a string on the other.
This Is where all the vegetables are
weighed before taking them to market.
There are numbers along the rod which
enable the weigher to ascertain the guam
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 I tried to
get q snap shot at one of the farmers re-
Gently, he plunged wildly into his hut and
closed the door behind him. 1t would not
be wise for a p~aleface to follow John into
the hut, for the Chinese farmer is usually
armed with a long cabbage knife, and it
is not safe for the troublesome Caucasian
to experiment too much on his temper.
No portion Of the cosmopolitan popula-
ton of Long Island City presents such a
panorama of picturesque anomalies as this
colony of Chinese farmers. Here virtue
and vice display their characteristics, pow
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