The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-01
MRS. EDWARDS PAPER.
Her story About Farming in China
Full of Interest.

Mrs. Elinor Ventrice Edwards gave
an exceptionally interesting talk on
Intensive Farming" opening with
witty preface in which she boldly
charged the committee with having
asked her to speak on picturesque
Farming" without having provided her
with a stereopticon. Mrs. Edwards Cd
served the Chinaman upon his native
heath, and her story was prettlly de-
livered and attentively heard.
In part Mrs. Edwards said l would ike
to tell you of the thing that impressed me
most forcibly when | first came to TINS
country. 1t was the absolutely prodlgal use
of land, and that too. by persons born and
bred in lands where every inch of ground is
cultivated intensively and to perfection. |
could not then. | cannot now, UNDERSTAND
why there is not more concentration OF Gull
ture on reduced acreage. But L do not wish
to be too sweeping in my, assertions, ana
among the exceptions L wish particularly 10
watched with the keeneSt interest in New
York state during this past season. Dur.
ing that time l was at the farm house OF
friends. Their houses stood in l5-acre lot,
and whilst dozens of acres in every direction
bore evidence of the highest culture this one
lot was over-grown with weeds OF every
description | was Informed that the ground
was worn out. Now the history of age and
our knowledge of science agree III teaching
that the causes Of diminished productiVeness
that are noticed and often referred to as lndl-
uted exclusively to the loss of constituents
removed from the soil in the crops sold f. ON
the farm but rather to the failure 20 con-
serve the available elements OF fertility, anc
keep them in active circulation, by judi
cious system of cropping and soil manage
ment. The farm in China has no rest, as
soon as one crop is off, another is put in,
yet there you find no worn out and deserted
land such as we come acrO5s here.
Farming, as you all know is most com
pick business. 1t embraces greater variety
nfh in
dustrial pursuit; yet. the Chinese make
success of it: whether they realize or not
quite what they doing, the fact remains
that they do cultivate the earth on scien-
tiffc principles and train their children from
early childhood in the system of husbandry.
They believe in agricultural education.
In the particular region of which wish to
speak, Swallow, on the tropic of cancer,
nine-tenths Of The men are engaged IN agr1-
culture. You ncve' see an Isolated farmhouse
there. the farmers live in villages, the
villages are walled. Contain not one inch of
waste space and most densely populated
The land is very generally, though not equal
ly divided among the people. The man own
ing ten acres of land is wealthy, whilst he
who owns but one acre possesses a compe-
tence. Those owning from one-tenth to one
half of an acre are most numerous; there
fore, there are naturally q. great many who
till the land for a share of the produce.
Theoretically, the whole country belongs
to the sovereign. so all land pays its tax
ception of the eldest son receiving an ad-
is fixed for each field. it amounts-so l was
told-from 60 cents to 81 and averages about
$50 upon each English acre.
Upon the death of the father, the land is
divided equally among the sons, with the
ception of the eldest son receiving an adj
ditional tenth, on account of the extra ex-
pense he is put to in worshiping the names
of his ancestors.
The chief expense of tillage with them is
in fertilizers, beans and sesamum seeds from
which the oil has been expressed being most
commonly used. But, among these people,
where not even a grain of rice is wasted,
potato parings, hair from shaven heads, all
vegetable and animal refuse is carefully hus-
banded and methodically applied to the soil.
The clods of earth are piled up forming
little ovens to retain and be enriched by
the smoke of the stubble burned there
Adobe houses whose walls have for years alb
sorbed the fumes of a kitchen and the exha-
lations of human inmates, are pufverized and
added tc the ever-hungry earth. Each grow
ing plant receives careful attention and the
closest consideration. You will frequently see
a scrap of tobacco stalk placed at the root Of
plant to destroy the underground grub,
while its leaves are examined constantly and
seduously freed from vermin. Then to the
Chinese farmer always practices the rotation
of crops, and in the Swallow region there Is
a constant season without intermission on
account of winter. On their best rice fields
frequently two crops Of rice and one of gar
den vegetables.
l remember when l first began the pursuit
of agricultural knowledge. 1 was told that
farming had two great ends, the production OF
crops and the production of animals
Stock raising however, is an unknown in
dustry in the Celestial kingdom; milk, butter
and cheese were unheard OF commodities IN
Swallow The only quadruped to be seen upon
the farm was the water buffalo, used in ploW-
ing and narrowing. Almost every farmer has
ducks which he takes to the nelos 10 de-
YOUR the snails, young crabs and frogs that