Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-31

4 the land OF its natural fertilizers.
I Every corn stalk, every bean-vine and
! every weedis saved for fuel. Even the
i. stubble of the sorghum is pulled up by
tile roots by the poor people VINO are ar,
4 allowed 10 go over the fields after the
!. crop is harvested. They pull every
/ stalk, leaving Mother. Earth naked and
| the land as bare as your hand. THIS
I has been done from generation to gen
/ Grafton, and notwithstanding all this
I the soil is still rich.
AMONG TILE FARMS.
We drove as,out Il mix from the ho-
/, tel before we reached the city wall
| This is so feet high IT has II great
gate on the side OF the town near
which the farm lies; We wound our,
way out through this, and then went
perhaps two miles further passing,
many low tiled houses. until we reach-S
cd the mud n@ll which incloses the
suburbs. We We're soon IN the couif-
try and in the midst OF such tanning
rs Is common in central Manchuria.
The fields have no fences. and their
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
3and that across country. Now our
drosolky vas tilted at an angle Of
r ~ tts1ItGS,t a'iiiN IioN W.
as We went over the drains crossing the
roadway. We frequently passed be- 2
tween great bitches, md u was told that
the farmers dug them to keep the
traffic from cutting. out into the fields
and destroying their crops
asked where were the houses and 4
barns, and was pointed to a farm vii 4
lage which stood on a little hin off by
itself The Manchus do not live on
their farms. They herd together in vii
llhges of mud houses, and go out to the
folds There are no barns, In our sense
of the word; and neither hay nor.
straw stacks. About some of the set
Elements one sees ricks of sorghum cane
and piles of bean stalks Such stuff IS
often corded up on the roofs ana some /,
times against the walls.
This stuff is not intended for food !
1t is the wood and coal OF the farmer
All the heating Of the home is done by |
the kang, II sort of a ledge two feet |
high which fills one part of a room, and |
which has IL series ofSilues beneath IL. |
These flues are heated by the kitchen !
fire, a little bundle of straw or corn |
stalks will send the flames running
through the tlues. and make the brick
ledge quito hot. 1T Is upon this ledge 4
that the farmers 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
which are used for the
donkeys and ponies.
TIE ORCHIDS OFF NfAiNCHURIA.
Among the villages, rising high over
the houses. are many ragged trees filed /
with grent punches OF what + at5tlrst
thought were crows nests. Every tree
we saw was full of such nests; and 7
asked Director Chan as to the birds
which made them HeSreplied:
s"Thosc are not nests; they are
punches of mistletoe, an air plant which
crows all over Manchuria. You will
find thousands fisuch punches in every
part of the country They are very de-
structive.t and are even worse for the
trees than are the orchids of tropical
climes. Indeed, they are the orchids of
Manchuria.i
Coming closer. had n chance to ex-
anime these trees. The 5mistletoe 1
punches are scattered all. over them,
and their yellow and red berries may
be seen shining out the green. No
rosy-cheeled American belle would
dare to wander about In Manchurla. She
would be under the mIstletoe half the
Lime and her lips would surely wear
cut