The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-20

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roots are pulled up and stored away for
fuel. and thus every vestige OF the plant
IL made to serve some useful purpose.
1T should be understood that the mass
of the Chinese people burn no wood, on
account OF It's cost, and the use Of char
coal Ii confined to the well-to-do. At a
distance from coal mines coal y hardly nday
the banks OF rivers. All the cooking ana
heating OF the klang, or stove hed, witnoN
which no Chinaman In the north can exist.
the crops and the weeds and straw he has
gathered. The combination OF all these
forms Of fuel. however, 10 Inadequate to
90 the heating and cooking Es required a .v 80
really warm after the autumn frosts have
begun.
dynasty. 1t never grows to great height.
and the yield IL probably not quarter az
large per acre as In the United States; Due
It Is useful to take the place Of other crops
In dry year, since 1t can be planted much
later than either kind Of milet. It Is now
thoroughly established as one Of the STAN
dard crops Of Northern China.
BARLEY Is grown to some extent, but the
aggregate yield IL probably not large
Oats are found in the mountain re-
gions of Chilli. about Kalgan, and In va
rious parts Of shansi.
other Varieties OF Grain.
"In the poor soil near the mountains one
q
patches. 1t Is an index OF the state Of Chi
nese markets that foreigners living ~
Northern China, where there Is probably
q thousand times more buckwheat grown
than all the foreigners could possibly use,
experience SO much trouble IN getting hold
OF It when wanted, that they invartably
send to California, rather than be disap-
pointed by having their Chinese orders urI-
filled.
..Besides the millet already mentioned,
other kinds are raised, such as the. glu-
tinous mil1et, Usually cultivated only in
small patches for home consumption, be-
cause It makes a certain dumping which
Is much priced. The varieties of these
small grains are so numerous that 1t Is
proverb that not ever a farmer can re-
"In the many regions subject to in
undations, there is a kind of upland rice
which is planted when ordinary crops
would be drowned out, but this belongs
rather to Central than to Northern China.
Sesame is grown to some extent for
the manufacture, by a rude process. OF an
oil much used in cooking. Sesame seeds
are used to improve the fiavoring Of the
ordinary wheat cakes baked In ovens or
Sweet potatoes are found Throughout.
cellent quality They are. perhaps, the
cheapest form OF food accessible to the
poor and are easily cultivated, being prop
agated from shoots set out after the rains
Tobacco is another plant which China
owes to the West. although that fact has
introduced more than 200 years. but its
eigners think it too mild, but the Chinese
are attached to 1t. 1t is smoked In long
pipes holding very small quantities.
1.-THE Chinese raise great amount OF
beans Of various kinds, the principal OF
which Is coarse black bean fed to ami
mails and used for making a crude oil,
which Is in great demand The bean cake
left after thesoil has been extracted is an
from the port Niuchwang, where beans oc-
cupy a large part of the cultivable land.
The cake is sent to the south, where It is
and for other crops. Although they are
entirely ignorant of any value to be at
tached to heterogeneous foods the Chinese
make large use of beans of various sorts
in their own diet, and in some regions the
proportion OF soil devoted to them Is very
great.
Peanuts, Opium and Cotton.
''The peanut is extensively cultivated
throughout Northern China, and is said to
have been an importation from abroad. It
hourishes best on sandy soil. Of which
there Is an unlimited supply. When the
nuts are matured. the farmer. knows no
other way of getting them all than to pass
the whole superficial area of his farm
through wire screen. Even then there
are many nuts left in the ground. which
are gathered by hogs turned loose for the
purpose. The peanut oil is an important
and increasing article Of commerce, and
the profit from the crop is said to be great
er than from almost any other.
Opium Is grown in considerable areas
In various parts of Northern China, but
statistics of the production are not avail
probably increasing, while in others it
seems to be practically stationary. The
profit Is larger than on food crops. but the
productive land amid such a dense popula-
prseiated BY the Chinese.
None of the crops thus far mentioned
Is Of greater Importance than cotton.
which Is found In certain districts in the
provinces here referred to. 1t grows on
the light Soils but not on the dark ones.
Chinese economy. II the spring is a par.
ticularly dry one, the cotton crop cannot
be planted Ia at e or I put II the
year In which there IS an amount of mois-
.ture sufficient for the grain crops is too
wet for the best cotton, and, on the other
hand, a year when food crops are a fail
ure may be good one for this great sta
pie. The cotton plant is very unlike the
stalwart growth OF the cotton states OF
America, being often only foot or more
high. The boil IS not much larger than an
English walnut, and the amount of the
staple in each is trifling. Yet almost all
the clothing for the hundreds of millions
of the Chinese race has come from this
Insignificant source.
"Durlng. the contemplating season. hum
are in the fields at work. 1t is for most
of them the only opportunity to make a
little extra money during the whole year
most OF the processes through which
the cotton is put before 1t is ready to be
worn bear marked resemblance to those
in use in western lands hundred years
ago. The gin is a clumsy little machine
in which two rollers press upon the cot
ton to squeeze out the seeds 1t is not
ideally effective, but It is fact that ex-
pensive foreign devices for the same pur-
pose have frequently totally failed when
tried with Chinese cotton. The 'scutch-
ing is done by means of taut bow, upon
the string of which the fiber is snapper
dexterously Spinning is not unlike our
own primitive methods. The fabric is in
variably narrow, often not more than IL
or is inches wide. always of uncertain
length. and Of variable quality. The man
ufacture of cotton Is at present in tram
sitorial state. owing to the general intro
duction Of japanese. Indian and. more re-
Gently, Chinese machine-spun yarns,
which, while much less durable than ti1oss
made it the old way. are so much cheaper
that millions Of women, and men, too are
deprived of what previously afforded them
small but certain dependence.