Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-01

idl 'ibAS dc - tcIlIlIOli III teHAidl
churia. The fields have no fences. and
thei" boundaries are marked only by
stones. The roads which cut their way
right through the farms look more like
bitches than roads. and turn this way
and that across country. Now our
droschky was tilted at angle Of forty
five degrees, and now we bounced high
as We went over the drains crossing the
roadway. We frequently passed between
Srea. bitches. and / was told that the
farmers dug them to keep the traffic from
cutting out into the fields and destroying
their crops.
I asked where were the houses and
barns. and was pointed to farm village
which stood on little hill Off by itself.
The Manchus do not live on their farms
They herd together in villages Of mud
houses. and go out to the fields. There
are no barns. in our sense of the word :
and neither hay nor straw stacks. About
some of the settlements one sees ricks of
sorghum cane and piles of bean stalks.
Such stuff is often corded up on the
roofs and sometimes against the walls.
This stuff is not intended for food. It
is the wood and coal of the farmer All
the heating Of the home is done by the
kang sort of a ledge two feet high
which fills one part of a room. and which
has series of fiues beneath it. These
little bundle of straw or corn stalks viii
send the flames running through the
fiues. and make the brick ledge quite hot
1t is upon this ledge that the farmer
family sit during the daytime, and there.
sprawled out side by side. they sleep at
night. The houses are almost all small
but many have outpuildings which are
used for the donkeys and ponies.
the houses ss are many ragged trees s filed
with great punches OF what l at first
thought were crows nests. Every tree
We was full of such nests; and 1
asked Director Chan to the birds
which made them. He replied:
Those are not nests: they are punches
of mistletoe. an air plant which grows all
over Manchuria You will find thousands
of such punches in every part Of the
country They are very destructive. and
are even worse for the trees than are
the orchids Of tropical chimes. Indeed,
they are the orchids Of Mauchuria.
Coming closer. l had chance 10 eN-
anime these trees The mistetoe lunches
scattered all over them. ard their
yellow and red berries may be seen shin
American belle would dare to wander
about in Manchur:a. She would be under
the mistletoe half the time, and her lips
would surely wear out.
stack TO watch the farmers thrash out
the sorghum seed. They took the canes
from the stack and cut off the heads and
laid them thrashipg floor A stone
roller. hauled by mule. was then driven
round and round over the seeds until they
were crushed off the stalks The refuss
was then winnowed in the wind and the
stalks were piled up for fuel. Before the
seed is ready for food it must be again
ground TO get off the hulls. Sorghum
grain is the staple diet of the Manchu.
II is the rice. wheat corn and meat of
the people. The grain grows everywhere
and that on stalks twice AS high as a
man Indian corn grows equal lily well.
Passing onward through scenes like
these. at last reached tile school II
consists of number of one-story brick
buildings surrounding large court in
which is beautiful garden. The build
inas are devoted to the classrooms. labo-
ratcrles and dormitcries of the students.
They are well built. and indeed would H..
quite respectable in any of the better
class agricultural schools of America.
There are rooms for bacterioiog cal work
and plant breeding; and the lecture halls
are equipped with maps aud diagrams
such as are used in the United States.
Al present ore-half of the instructors
are Chinese. some Of whom have been
educated III America. The other half ara
Japanese. the latter having been chosen
through the pressure eXerted 10y the JaIa-
nesa consul at Mukden.
After Il cup Of tea. Director Chan called
in the cowmandar, il charge of the
school and asked him to put the boys
through their drill in our honor. He did
so. There were altogether l5o ranging II
age from sixteen 10 twenty. The Older
students are big. burly fellows. and as
they came forth. dressed in their uai-
FORMS. they looked strong enough to cope
with almost any problem. military or
farming. At The command o. their leader
they went through a series OF Gynlnastic
exercises with much skill as | have
seen in the japanese schools. and in Their
marching they exhibited the goose step
after the most improved manner Of the
German infantry. I understand tina; Il
military drill is now taught in all the
mode" schools about Mukden. SO that