chaff and short straw being used as a binding material, the brick
being simply dried in the sun, as seen in Fig. 89. A house in the
process of building, where the brick were being used, is seen in
Fig. 90. The foundation of the dwelling, it will be observed, was
laid with well-formed hard-burned brick, these being necessary to
prevent capillary moisture from the ground being drawn up and soften
the earth brick, making the wall unsafe.
Several kilns for burning brick, built of clay and earth, were
passed in our journey up the Pei ho, and stacked about them,
covering an area of more than eight hundred feet back from the river
were bundles of the kaoliang stems to serve as fuel in the kilns.
The extensive use of the unburned brick is necessitated by the
difficulty of obtaining fuel, and various methods are adopted to
reduce the number of burned brick required in construction. One of
these devices is shown in Fig. 79, where the city wall surrounding
Kashing is constructed of alternate courses of four layers of burned
brick separated by layers of simple earth concrete.
In addition to the multiple-function, farm-gown crops used for food,
fuel and building material, there is a large acreage devoted to the
growing of textile and fiber products and enormous quantities of
these are produced annually. In Japan, where some fifty millions of
people are chiefly fed on the produce of little more than 21,000
square miles of cultivated land, there was grown in 1906 more than
75,500,000 pounds of cotton, hemp, flax and China grass textile
stock, occupying 76,700 acres of the cultivated land. On 141,000
other acres there grew 115,000,000 pounds of paper mulberry and
Mitsumata, materials used in the manufacture of paper. From still
another 14,000 acres were taken 92,000,000 pounds of matting stuff,
while more than 957,000 acres were occupied by mulberry trees for
the feeding of silkworms, yielding to Japan 22,389,798 pounds of
silk. Here are more than 300,000,000 pounds of fiber and textile
stuff taken from 1860 square miles of the cultivated land, cutting
down the food producing area to 19,263 square miles and this area is
made still smaller by devoting 123,000 acres to tea, these producing
in 1906 58,900,000 pounds, worth nearly five million dollars. Nor do
these statements express the full measure of the producing power of
the 21,321 square miles of cultivated land, for, in addition to the
food and other materials named, there were also made $2,365,000
worth of braid from straw and wood shavings; $6,000,000 worth of
rice straw bags, packing cases and matting; and $1,085,000 worth of
wares from bamboo, willow and vine. As illustrating the intense home
industry of these people we may consider the fact that the 5,453,309
households of farmers in Japan produced in 1906, in their homes as
subsidiary work, $20,527,000 worth of manufactured articles. If
correspondingly exact statistical data were available from China and
Korea a similarity full utilization of cultural possibilities would
be revealed there.
This marvelous heritage of economy, industry and thrift, bred of the
stress of centuries, must not be permitted to lose virility through
contact with western wasteful practices, now exalted to seeming
virtues through the dazzling brilliancy of mechanical achievements.
More and more must labor be dignified in all homes alike, and
economy, industry and thrift become inherited impulses compelling
and satisfying.
Cheap, rapid, long distance transportation, already well started in
these countries, will bring with it a fuller utilization of the
large stores of coal and mineral wealth and of the enormous
available water power, and as a result there will come some
temporary lessening of the stress for fuel and with better forest
management some relief along the lines of building materials. But
the time is not a century distant when, throughout the world, a
fuller, better development must take place along the lines of these
most far-reaching and fundamental practices so long and so
effectively followed by the Mongolian races in China, Korea and
Japan. When the enormous water-power of these countries has been
harnessed and brought into the foot-hills and down upon the margins
of the valleys and plains in the form of electric current, let it,
if possible, be in a large measure so distributed as to become
available in the country village homes to lighten the burden and
lessen the human drudgery and yet increase the efficiency of the
human effort now so well bestowed upon subsidiary manufactures under
the guidance and initiative of the home, where there may be room to
breathe and for children to come up to manhood and womanhood in the
best conditions possible, rather than in enormous congested
factories.
VIII
TRAMPS AFIELD
On March 31st we took the 8 A. M. train on the Shanghai-Nanking
railway for Kunshan, situated thirty-two miles west from Shanghai,
to spend the day walking in the fields. The fare, second class, was
eighty cents, Mexican. A third class ticket would have been forty
cents and a first class, $1.60, practically two cents, one cent and
half a cent, our currency, per mile. The second class fare to
Nanking, a distance of 193 miles, was $1.72, U. S. currency, or a
little less than one cent per mile. While the car seats were not
upholstered, the service was good. Meals were served on the train in
either foreign or Chinese style, and tea, coffee or hot water to
drink. Hot, wet face cloths were regularly passed and many Chinese
daily newspapers were sold on the train, a traveler often buying
two.
In the vicinity of Kunshan a large area of farm land had been
acquired by the French catholic mission at a purchase price of $40,
Mexican, per mow, or at the rate of $103.20 per acre. This they
rented to the Chinese.
It was here that we first saw, at close range, the details of using
canal mud as a fertilizer, so extensively applied in China. Walking
through the fields we came upon the scene in the middle section of
Fig. 92 where, close on the right was such a reservoir as seen in
Fig. 58. Men were in it, dipping up the mud which had accumulated
over its bottom, pouring it on the bank in a field of windsor beans,
and the thin mud was then over two feet deep at that side and
flowing into the beans where it had already spread two rods, burying
the plants as the engraving shows. When sufficiently dry to be
readily handled this would be spread among the beans as we found it
being done in another field, shown in the upper section of the
illustration. Here four men were distributing such mud, which had
dried, between the rows, not to fertilize the beans, but for a
succeeding crop of cotton soon to be planted between the rows,
before they were harvested. The owner of this piece of land, with
whom we talked and who was superintending the work, stated that his
usual yield of these beans was three hundred catty per mow and that
they sold them green, shelled, at two cents, Mexican, per catty. At
this price and yield his return would be $15.48, gold, per acre. If
there was need of nitrogen and organic matter in the soil the vines
would be pulled green, after picking the beans, and composted with
the wet mud. If not so needed the dried stems would be tied in
bundles and sold as fuel or used at home, the ashes being returned
to the fields. The windsor beans are thus an early crop grown for
fertilizer, fuel and food.
This farmer was paying his laborers one hundred cash per day and
providing their meals, which he estimated worth two hundred cash
more, making twelve cents, gold, for a ten-hour day. Judging from
what we saw and from the amount of mud carried per load, we
estimated the men would distribute not less than eighty-four loads
of eighty pounds each per day, an average distance of five hundred
feet, making the cost 3.57 cents, gold, per ton for distribution.
The lower section of Fig. 92 shows another instance where mud was
being used on a narrow strip bordering the path along which we
walked, the amount there seen having been brought more than four
hundred feet, by one man before 10 A. M. on the morning the
photograph was taken. He was getting it from the bottom of a canal
ten feet deep, laid bare by the out-going tide. Already he had
brought more than a ton to his field.
The carrying baskets used for this work were in the form of huge
dustpans suspended from the carrying poles by two cords attached to
the side rims, and steadied by the hand grasping a handle provided
in the back for this purpose and for emptying the baskets by
tipping. With this construction the earth was readily raked upon the
basket and very easily emptied from it by simply raising the hands
when the destination was reached. No arrangement could be more
simple, expeditious or inexpensive for this man with his small
holding. In this simple manner has nearly all of the earth been
moved in digging the miles of canal and in building the long sea
walls. In Shanghai the mud carried through the storm sewers into
Soochow creek we saw being removed in the same manner during the
intervals when the tide was out.
In still another field, seen in Fig. 93, the upper portion shows
where canal mud had been applied at a rate exceeding seventy tons
per acre, and we were told that such dressings may be repeated as
often as every two years though usually at longer intervals, if
other and cheaper fertilizers could be obtained. In the lower
portion of the same illustration may be seen the section of canal
from which this mud was taken up the three earthen stairways built
of the mud itself and permitted to dry before using. Many such lines
of stairway were seen during our trips along the canals, only
recently made or in the process of building to be in readiness when
the time for applying the mud should arrive. To facilitate
collecting the mud from the shallow canals temporary dams may be
thrown across them at two places and the water between either
scooped or pumped out, laying the bottom bare, as is often done also
for fishing. The earth of the large grave mound seen across a canal
in the center background of the upper portion of the engraving had
been collected in a similar manner.
In the Chekiang province canal mud is extensively used in the
mulberry orchards as a surface dressing. We have referred to this
practice in southern China, and Fig. 94 is a view taken south of
Kashing early in April. The boat anchored in front of the mulberry
orchard is the home of a family coming from a distance, seeking
employment during the season for picking mulberry leaves to feed
silkworms. We were much surprised, on looking back at the boat after
closing the camera, to see the head of the family standing erect in
the center, having shoved back a section of the matting roof.
The dressing of mud applied to this field formed a loose layer more
than two inches deep and when compacted by the rains which would
follow would add not less than a full inch of soil over the entire
orchard, and the weight per acre could not be less than 120 tons.
Another equally, or even more, laborious practice followed by the
Chinese farmers in this province is the periodic exchange of soil
between mulberry orchards and the rice fields, their experience
being that soil long used in the mulberry orchards improves the
rice, while soil from the rice fields is very helpful when applied
to the mulberry orchards. We saw many instances, when traveling by
boat-train between Shanghai, Kashing and Hangchow, of soil being
carried from rice fields and either stacked on the banks or dropped
into the canal. Such soil was oftenest taken from narrow trenches
leading through the fields, laying them off in beds. It is our
judgment that the soil thrown into the canals undergoes important
changes, perhaps through the absorption of soluble plant food
substances such as lime, phosphoric acid and potash withdrawn from
the water, or through some growth or fermentation, which, in the
judgment of the farmer, makes the large labor involved in this
procedure worth while. The stacking of soil along the banks was
probably in preparation for its removal by boat to some of the
mulberry orchards.
It is clearly recognized by the farmers that mud collected from
those sections of the canal leading through country villages, such
as that seen in Fig. 10, is both inherently more fertile and in
better physical condition than that collected in the open country.
They attribute this difference to the effect of the village washing
in the canal, where soap is extensively used. The storm waters of
the city doubtless carry some fertilizing material also, although
sewage, as such, never finds its way into the canals. The washing
would be very likely to have a decided flocculating effect and so
render this material more friable when applied to the field.
One very important advantage which comes to the fields when heavily
dressed with such mud is that resulting from the addition of lime
which has become incorporated with the silts through their
flocculation and precipitation, and that which is added in the form
of snail shells abounding in the canals. The amount of these may be
realized from the large numbers contained in the mud recently thrown
out, as seen in the upper section of Fig. 95, where the pebbly
appearance of the surface is caused by snail shells. In the lower
section of the same illustration the white spots are snail shells
exposed in the soil of a recently spaded field. The shells are by no
means as numerous generally as here seen but yet sufficient to
maintain the supply of lime.
Several species of these snails are collected in quantities and used
as food. Piles containing bushels of the empty shells were seen
along the canals outside the villages. The snails are cooked in the
shell and often sold by measure to be eaten from the hand, as we buy
roasted peanuts or popcorn. When a purchase is made the vender clips
the spiral point from each shell with a pair of small shears. This
admits air and permits the snail to be readily removed by suction
when the lips are applied to the shell. In the canals there are also
large numbers of fresh water eel, shrimp and crabs as well as fish,
all of which are collected and used for human food. It is common,
when walking through the canal country, to come upon groups of
gleaners busy in the bottoms of the shallow agricultural canals,
gathering anything which may serve as food, even including small
bulbs or the fleshy roots of edible aquatic plants. To facilitate
the collection of such food materials sections of the canal are
often drained in the manner already described, so that gleaning may
be done by hand, wading in the mud. Families living in houseboats
make a business of fishing for shrimp. They trail behind the
houseboat one or two other boats carrying hundreds of shrimp traps
cleverly constructed in such manner that when they are trailed along
the bottom and disturb the shrimps they dart into the holes in the
trap, mistaking them for safe hiding places.
On the streets, especially during festival days, one may see young
people and others in social intercourse, busying their fingers and
their teeth eating cooked snails or often watermelon seeds, which
are extensively sold and thus eaten. This custom we saw first in the
streets of a city south of Kashing on the line of the new railway
between Hangchow and Shanghai. The first passenger train over the
line had been run the day before our visit, which was a festival day
and throngs of people were visiting the nine-story pagoda standing
on a high hill a mile outside the city limits. The day was one of
great surprises to these people who had never before seen a
passenger train, and my own person appeared to be a great curiosity
to many. No boy ever scrutinized the face of a caged chimpanzee
closer, with purer curiosity, or with less consideration for his
feelings than did a woman of fifty scrutinize mine, standing close
in front, not two feet distant, even bending forward as I sat upon a
bench writing at the railway station. People would pass their hands
along my coat sleeve to judge the cloth, and a boy felt of my shoes.
Walking through the street we passed many groups gathered about
tables and upon seats, visiting or in business conference, their
fingers occupied with watermelon seeds or with packages of cooked
snails. Along the pathway leading to the pagoda beggars had
distributed themselves, one in a place, at intervals of two or three
hundred feet, asking alms, most of them infirm with age or in some
other way physically disabled. We saw but one who appeared capable
of earning a living.
Travel between Shanghai and Hangchow at this time was heavy. Three
companies were running trains, of six or more houseboats, each towed
by a steam launch, and these were daily crowded with passengers. Our
train left Shanghai at 4:30 P. M., reaching Hangchow at 5:30 P. M.
the following day, covering a distance along the canal of something
more than 117 miles. We paid $5.16, gold, for the exclusive use of a
first-cabin, five-berth stateroom for myself and interpreter. It
occupied the full width of the boat, lacking about fourteen inches
of footway, and could be entered from either side down a flight of
five steps. The berths were flat, naked wooden shelves thirty inches
wide, separated by a partition headboard six inches high and without
railing in front. Each traveler provided his own bedding. A small
table upon which meals were served, a mirror on one side and a lamp
on the other, set in an opening in the partition, permitting it to
serve two staterooms, completed the furnishings. The roof of the
staterooms was covered with an awning and divided crosswise into two
tiers of berths, each thirty inches wide, by board partitions six
inches high. In these sections passengers spread their beds,
sleeping heads together, separated only by a headboard six inches
high. The awning was only sufficiently high to permit passengers to
sit erect. Ventilation was ample but privacy was nil. Curtains could
be dropped around the sides in stormy weather.
Meals were served to each passenger wherever he might be. Dinner
consisted of hot steamed rice brought in very heavy porcelain bowls
set inside a covered, wet, steaming hot wooden case. With the rice
were tiny dishes, butterchip size, of green clover, nicely cooked
and seasoned; of cooked bean curd served with shredded bamboo
sprouts; of tiny pork strips with bean curd; of small bits of liver
with bamboo sprouts; of greens, and hot water for tea. If the
appetite is good one may have a second helping of rice and as much
hot water for tea as desired. There was no table linen, no napkins
and everything but the tea had to be negotiated with chop sticks,
or, these failing, with the fingers. When the meal was finished the
table was cleared and water, hot if desired, was brought for your
hand basin, which with tea, teacup and bedding, constitute part of
the traveler's outfit. At frequent intervals, up to ten P. M., a
crier walked about the deck with hot water for those who might
desire an extra cup of tea, and again in the early morning.
At this season of the year Chinese incubators were being run to
their full capacity and it was our good fortune to visit one of
these, escorted by Rev. R. A. Haden, who also acted as interpreter.
The art of incubation is very old and very extensively practiced in
China. An interior view of one of these establishments is shown in
Fig. 96, where the family were hatching the eggs of hens, ducks and
geese, purchasing the eggs and selling the young as hatched. As in
the case of so many trades in China, this family was the last
generation of a long line whose lives had been spent in the same
work. We entered through their store, opening on the street of the
narrow village seen in Fig. 10. In the store the eggs were purchased
and the chicks were sold, this work being in charge of the women of
the family. It was in the extreme rear of the home that thirty
incubators were installed, all doing duty and each having a capacity
of 1,200 hens' eggs. Four of these may be seen in the illustration
and one of the baskets which, when two-thirds filled with eggs, is
set inside of each incubator.
Each incubator consists of a large earthenware jar having a door cut
in one side through which live charcoal may be introduced and the
fire partly smothered under a layer of ashes, this serving as the
source of heat. The jar is thoroughly insulated, cased in basketwork
and provided with a cover, as seen in the illustration. Inside the
outer jar rests a second of nearly the same size, as one teacup may
in another. Into this is lowered the large basket with its 600 hens'
eggs, 400 ducks' eggs or 175 geese' eggs, as the case may be. Thirty
of these incubators were arranged in two parallel rows of fifteen
each. Immediately above each row, and utilizing the warmth of the
air rising from them, was a continuous line of finishing hatchers
and brooders in the form of woven shallow trays with sides warmly
padded with cotton and with the tops covered with sets of quilts of
different thickness.
After a basket of hens' eggs has been incubated four days it is
removed and the eggs examined by lighting, to remove those which are
infertile before they have been rendered unsalable. The infertile
eggs go to the store and the basket is returned to the incubator.
Ducks' eggs are similarly examined after two days and again after
five days incubation; and geese' eggs after six days and again after
fourteen days. Through these precautions practically all loss from
infertile eggs is avoided and from 95 to 98 per cent of the fertile
eggs are hatched, the infertile eggs ranging from 5 to 25 per cent.
After the fourth day in the incubator all eggs are turned five times
in twenty-four hours. Hens' eggs are kept in the lower incubator
eleven days; ducks' eggs thirteen days, and geese' eggs sixteen
days, after which they are transferred to the trays. Throughout the
incubation period the most careful watch and control is kept over
the temperature. No thermometer is used but the operator raises the
lid or quilt, removes an egg, pressing the large end into the eye
socket. In this way a large contact is made where the skin is
sensitive, nearly constant in temperature, but little below blood
heat and from which the air is excluded for the time. Long practice
permits them thus to judge small differences of temperature
expeditiously and with great accuracy; and they maintain different
temperatures during different stages of the incubation. The men
sleep in the room and some one is on duty continuously, making the
rounds of the incubators and brooders, examining and regulating each
according to its individual needs, through the management of the
doors or the shifting of the quilts over the eggs in the brooder
trays where the chicks leave the eggs and remain until they go to
the store. In the finishing trays the eggs form rather more than one
continuous layer but the second layer does not cover more than a
fifth or a quarter of the area. Hens' eggs are in these trays ten
days, ducks' and geese' eggs, fourteen days.
After the chickens have been hatched sufficiently long to require
feeding they are ready for market and are then sorted according to
sex and placed in separate shallow woven trays thirty inches in
diameter. The sorting is done rapidly and accurately through the
sense of touch, the operator recognizing the sex by gently pinching
the anus. Four trays of young chickens were in the store fronting on
the street as we entered and several women were making purchases,
taking five to a dozen each. Dr. Haden informed me that nearly every
family in the cities, and in the country villages raise a few, but
only a few, chickens and it is a common sight to see grown chickens
walking about the narrow streets, in and out of the open stores,
dodging the feet of the occupants and passers-by. At the time of our
visit this family was paying at the rate of ten cents, Mexican, for
nine hens' and eight ducks' eggs, and were selling their largest
strong chickens at three cents each. These figures, translated into
our currency, make the purchase price for eggs nearly 48 cents, and
the selling price for the young chicks $1.29, per hundred, or
thirteen eggs for six cents and seven chickens for nine cents.