Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-12-08


would work equally well with their
grain. The amount brought was so
small that no test could be made but
there Is no doubt as TO the success OF
the undertaking.
CHINA's BIG BREAD BASKET
one Of the big bread baskets OF the
chinese empire IS the great plain
which extends north of the Yangtse.
/ There are hundreds of miles az this re-
glon which are covered with wheat
The plain from north TO south Is as
long as from New York to Cleveland II
/ Us almost as wide as from New York 10
Pttsburg and a great part OF ID con.
tains good wheat soil Mucl Of the
land Is TOO high FOR irrigation. but The
soil Is so rich that in ordinary seasons
! II produces good crops
had a chat the other day with CAPT.
! w. W Rich, the foreign adviser TO
| Sheng. the head of the Chinese imperial
/ railways. Capt. Rich has Travelled over
! most Of the empire. surveying raj lroads
/ and reporting on mines and other mat
I ters for shgng Tie is from Minneapolis.
/ and ought To know wheat when he sees
1t. said he.
The wheat fields Of the great Chinese
! plains remind me Of the bonanza farms
OF the DakOtas. They extend on and on
Tor miles There are no fences and
no bans-nothing but wheat wheat
wheat Here and there Is a clump OF
trees. Each OF the tree clumps marks
Chinese village ranging In size from
few houses up TO hundreds. The farm
ers live In the villages and 60 out from
them TO their work The land is owned
In small patches. but 10 the stranger n
has no visible boundaries.
rs the country thlcky populatedo"
Yes, replied Capt Rich. Much
more thlcky than I supposed az first
| was surprised at the number Of people
In village. The families are large. and
you find eight or ten persons in one
house. Nearly every village belongs 10
q clan or family IL has It's head men.
VINO act as their governors and who are
Well posted on an matters connected
with their localities. ] talked with many
OF these old men They told me that II I
took all the wheat they could raise 10 |
feed the local population. They could
not give me any encouragement as to |
export. You see I was looking IN i
freight for a possible railroad. / asked /
them what they aid when they had a /
big crop. They answered that they /
stored II In public granaries against the
times OF famine
HOW THE CHINESE CULTIVATE |
WHEAT.
During a house-boat trip up the
fangtse valley ] passed through
wheat region. not so large as that Of the
great plain but big enough to show me
something OF Chinese wheat culture.
The wheat is IN small patches. Il Is
cultivated In a way that would surprise
our bonanza farmers. The grain Is
first sowed In seed bed and the stalks
transplanted. plant by plant. like rice.
The stalks are set out In rows about
six inches apart. In little punches Of five
or six stalks The crop is kept free from
weeds. II is hoed and sprinkled with
LIQUID manure.
In the larger wheat regions which
Captain Rich saw the wheat is sown
with rude drills which drop three rows
at a time. The crop Is hoed and scienu-
hcally cultivated although the blowing
IS very shallow
PLANT GRAIN IN HILLS.
Several hundred miles above here IN
the Nangise valley the farmers plant |
their wheat IN hills. They hoe 1t regu-