Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and JapanKing, F. H. (Franklin Hiram)
Science
Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan
King, F. H. (Franklin Hiram)
Agriculture -- China; Agriculture -- Japan; Agriculture -- Korea
We are beginning to husband with some economy the waste from our
domestic animals but in this we do not approach that of China, Korea
and Japan. People in China regularly search for and collect
droppings along the country and caravan roads. Repeatedly, when
walking through city streets, we observed such materials quickly and
apparently eagerly gathered, to be carefully stored under conditions
which ensure small loss from either leaching or unfavorable
fermentation. In some mulberry orchards visited the earth had been
carefully hoed back about the trunks of trees to a depth of three or
four inches from a circle having a diameter of six to eight feet,
and upon these areas were placed the droppings of silkworms, the
moulted skins, together with the bits of leaves and stem left after
feeding. Some disposition of such waste must be made. They return at
once to the orchard all but the silk produced from the leaves;
unnecessary loss is thus avoided and the material enters at once the
service of forcing the next crop of leaves.
On the farm of Mrs. Wu, near Kashing, while studying the operation
of two irrigation pumps driven by two cows, lifting water to flood
her twenty-five acres of rice field preparatory to transplanting, we
were surprised to observe that one of the duties of the lad who had
charge of the animals was to use a six-quart wooden dipper with a
bamboo handle six feet long to collect all excreta, before they fell
upon the ground, and transfer them to a receptacle provided for the
purpose. There came a flash of resentment that such a task was set
for the lad, for we were only beginning to realize to what lengths
the practice of economy may go, but there was nothing irksome
suggested in the boy's face. He performed the duty as a matter of
course and as we thought it through there was no reason why it
should have been otherwise. In fact, the only right course was being
taken. Conditions would have been worse if the collection had not
been made. It made possible more rice. Character of substantial
quality was building in the lad which meant thrift in the growing
man and continued life for the nation.
We have adverted to the very small number of flies observed anywhere
in the course of our travel, but its significance we did not realize
until near the end of our stay. Indeed, for some reason, flies were
more in evidence during the first two days on the steamship, out
from Yokohama on our return trip to America, than at any time before
on our journey. It is to be expected that the eternal vigilance
which seizes every waste, once it has become such, putting it in
places of usefulness, must contribute much toward the destruction of
breeding places, and it may be these nations have been mindful of
the wholesomeness of their practice and that many phases of the
evolution of their waste disposal system have been dictated by and
held fast to through a clear conception of sanitary needs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account