Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-03
FARM METHODS IN CHINA
The Value Of Irrigation for Agriculture is
Thoroughly Understood
American Ingenuity VIII Affect
Change in the Appliances EN-.
ployed in the Near Future.
From Farm and Fireside,

From Farm and Fireside.
In America irrigation is in its infancy. In
China 1t is in it's dotage. Probably the
majority Of the people of the United States
never saw an irrigated field larger than a
domestic garden. In China every part of
the country that can be watered by the
| crude methods available is artifcially sup
piled with water So thoroughly is the
| value Of irrigation for agriculture under
stood by the Chinese that land is multiplied
| in value by from two to five by the SIM
pie fact that it can be irrigated when so
desired. Probably one reason why the
Mongolians appreciate the value of irri-
gated lands is the fact that their chief
cereal is rice. and rice, or DADDY" fields,
| as they are commonly called, must be COW
cred with from one to three inches of water
from planting time until harvest. Evapo-
| ration in these semi-tropical countries is
| very rapid, and the water must be sup
piled regularly and in large quantities. But
all the crops are more or less irrigated
wherever possible. Wheat is sown in rows
| and an irrigated ditch six inches deep runs
| the length of the field every three or four
| feet. Sweet potatoes. beans, peanuts,
sugarcane, tobacco and that archdestroyer
| of the Chinese nation. the poppy, are all
| cultivated in the same way.
| In irrigation, as In everything else, the
Chinese seem to have early learned it's
/ L
| tain degree of efficiency, and then stopped
They have made no Improvements in this
line for thousand years, just as they have
stood still in every other art of civilization.
Wherever possible. water running down
| hill is utilized and spread out upon the
| fields. The hillsides, and even the noun
tains. are terraced, and the little streams
| running down their sides are utilized from
| their very source. This terracing of all
| sloping ground is one of the features of
Chinese agriculture that strikes the traveller
fo1l q,
| matter how steep the slope. This is neces-
| sary in order to hold the water: and even
where the ground is not irrigated the fields
are all made level, artificially, if not so
naturally: This is one of the many evil
| dences of the skill Of the Chinese farmer.
Every field looks like a garden.
After getting down into the valley the
| stream Is larger, and it is utilized upon a
| correspondingly larger scale. A crude dam
Is thrown across it, and a portion of the
| water is diverted into a ditch from one 70
| four feet wide and half as deep and the
| fields below upon that side of the stream
are irrigated from it. A little distance
below another partial dam will divert water
! INTO similar ditch upon the opposite side
| The water thus diverted to the fields runs
| over them and off into the stream again.
| except what Is lost by evaporation and alb
| sorption. This-process is continued as long
| as possible; but finally the stream becomes
| lower than the banks. and artificial methods
OF lifting the water must be resorted to.
Inc treadmill pump is the most generally
1
| though 1t cannot be classed among the
| labor-saving machines of the world. 1t is
| an endless chain of wooden links, each link
| having a four-cornered disk In the middle
| that fits close to the sides of the long box
] like pump, which is from eight to sixteen
feet long and six to ten inches wide, The
pump has bottom board. but no lid. 1t is
| placed in stream. canal or pond, leaning
| upon the bank at an angle of about forty
! five degrees. 1t is worked by foot-power
| from one to four men or women standing
fnr nm, ttn rr-i,,
horizontal bar and stepping from one
| round spoke to the other. Water is raised
| rapidly and in large quantities by this pro-
cess but it can only be lifted from six to
| ten feet at time. 1t is not uncommon to
see two working, lifting the same water in
| sections. This requires at least eight per-
sons, and the expense would seem prohibit
tive in any country except China. A net
work of canals spreads over the level plains
of China everywhere, and in south China
| at least, this treadmill pump is used al
| them to the fields along the low bank But
these are the favored regions where the
| land brings the highest prices, and the
water wat Is considered to be easily obtained
| to five feet they commonly use a bucket
| swung by two persons with ropes.
Small pools for catching rainwater are
| dug In the regions away from the streams
and canals. But these are seldom more
than fourth of an acre in size. and oftener
less than more. In many places 1t would
pass OF a mountain stream and make a
lake that would furnish abundant water for
large tracts Of land in the valley below
without labor and with certainty of supply
But the Chinese government does not con-
slider such things as part of its business
The magistrates have very short terms in
place and their chief thought is to make
hay while the sun shines',-eet rich as
quickly as possible before another one is
appointed. As to the people organizing
companies TO carry out such works, they
are too suspicious of each other. and know
each other too well to unite to build irri-
cation plants upon large scale. However
they do unite upon a comparatively small
scale The water rights are carefully stated
turn In using water from small supplies
like wells and bitches. This is especialIy
true in times q drought. However, when
the supply becomes insufficient for all, it is
very frequently monopolized by the most
powerful family. clan or village and the
weaker are driven off. This is a fruitful
source of village fights, often ending in
The old-fashioned we'll sweep ia used
where there are no streams and where
water can be reached at twenty feet or
less I Ihree persons drawing water from a
we'll for irrigation, one bucketful at q time
Is sad sight to the foreigner But to the
Chinaman 1t ID only sad when he cannot
get the water even by this amount of Ia
drought; then the people often sIeen bs-
side the well, arising every two or three
hours to draw the water that has accu-
INFLATED Why not dig deeperp' The
sweep will not work well over twenty feet.
and the Chinese know nothing about sue
ton pumps. Nor do they know how to
sink well into the sand. When a bed Of
sand Is reached they stop. Even so sinnple
thing as wooden casing they have not
thought of.
have priced farm lands 300 yards apart.
One price at go an acre. the other at 500.
the only essential difference being that the
hrst was. say. thirty-five feet to the water.
and the second fifteen or twenty feet. That
ference In price. Some time American
windmill pumps will change all that and
1t may not be very long in the future.
either. But when every other method fails
these patient totlers will carry water ali
day long and good part Of the night half
a mile or more, If necessary. to save a
part OF their precious crop. 1t means stary-
alton IL IL ia lost