Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1921-12-14

eius in Seventy-sixth Generation.
abundant yield of wheat. corn. rice.
millct arrowroot, vegetables and fruit. !
The northern plains. however are
vnlucless from an agricultural stand !
point because the land Is saturated
with salt.
Harvest Wax With Worms.
One Of the novel "crops" OF this
province Is nm odd variety Of wax
harvested from the wax tree with the
aid of armies OF wax worms. which are
sent forth TO forage. much ns the silk
worm forces are martlaled for attack
on mulberry leaves After summers
depreda;ions on the wax trees the
worms exude n substance which when
melted forms wax. After the li;tle
harvesters have paid their wax tribute
the Chinese collect them and place
them indoors where they are "stnll-
fed" until the following spring. when
the process Is repeated.
silk culture Is one Of the most i'm
portant Industries OF Shnntung. One
Of the varieties Of fibre produced IL
pongce or Chi-fu silk. obtained from
worms that are fed on the leaves of
dwarfed oaks. These oak spnners are
not always treated with the same con-
slderntlon accorded the wax worms,
for, when the pongee cocoon IL finished,
the worm often finds its way 10 the
table Of wealthy native, where II Is
highly priced as delIcncy.
Still another rather important In
dustry Of Shnntung affects from far
across the sea, the peace Of mind OF
modern American maids with unruly
tresses. The women Of Shnntung.
young and Old, busy themselves tying
into form the iilmy nets Of hair that
on blustery spring days on Fifth ave-
nue., or when the lake winds swoop
down on Michigan boulevard. Hun
dreds Of thousands Of these airy manu-.
| features. large I'm numbers but few In
pounds, are shipped to America an
nually.
Birthplace Of Confuoius.
Shnntung will ever hold n place Of
supreme affection In the hearts ~
| Cinnamon. for II WIS In this province
| that one Of the worlds greatest moral
| teachers, the famous sage, Confuc'us,
was horn. Even more lmportant-in
nncestor-revering Chlna-Confuclus IL
buried In Shantung. This was also
the native province of Mencius. one
Of Confuclus most distinguished fol.
| lowers
| The tomb Of Confuclus near Chowfu
| is the object Of pilgrimage to many
hut strangely enough II Is not nearly
ms great a drawing card M Is Tai
| Snnn, the highest ~ Chinn's FIVE
sacred mountains. which Is also IN holy
| Shantung. and not far from ChOwfu.
At Tai Shan one finds what might be
called holy mountaineering" de luxe
| Tn the peak, which II 5000 feet high
has been constructed broad paved
path with stone steps wherever the
decllvity Is steep, and In the spring
| this highway Is thronged with ms many
! MS 10000 pilgrims a day. on the ellis
which the climber passes preccpts are
carved, constituting huge religious
! bin boards" by the wnyslde nt inter
walls nre ternrles where offerings to
the priests nre made convenient
! Tnolst, Buddhist and Confuclan
shrines are lntermlngled, though the
mountain itself has been considered a
sacred place since before the latter
two cults came into existence. At the
very crest of the holy mount are
three temples Of the three faiths.
| Twentieth century communication ~
n sort was opened 10 the sacred places
| Of Shanhing when the Tlen-Tsln-
Pukow railway was completed In 1912.
But II was only of n sort. one express
train week 10 Pukow sufiiced for su-
perior travel but no arrangements
were made for taking care Of religious
tourists.
One still goes to the home Of Con-
fucius as one would have gone IN the
Middle Ages. Express trains do not
pause at Chowfu station, SS miles
south OF Tsi-nan, unless great officials
are aboard. and wish 60 nlight there.
by special stipulation OF Duke Kung,
descendant OF Confucius and head OF
the clan, the railroad passed six miles
from the city. and there are no ade-
Quate accommodations for large num-
i bers Of travelerA