to such an extent, that it becomes offensive to all but the Chinese themselves. It is, however, no needless process; for by it the land, which would otherwise be exhausted by their incomplete mode of tillage, becomes renovated, so as to produce a succession of crops in abundance. The land, indeed, is never allowed to lie fallow, but its fertility is restored and maintained by an indefatigable system of tilth and manuring, unknown in other countries.

In the northern parts of China wheat is cultivated, but it appears to be small-grained and of an indifferent quality. In the neighbourhood of Canton, also, three kinds of millet are grown in small fields laid out in narrow ridges. As before observed, however, rice is the staple food of the Chinese, and to this the husbandman directs his chief attention. The rice grown in China is a much larger grain than that which is common in India. It consists principally of two sorts, the white and red, the former of which is the most esteemed. They have a great prejudice in favour of their native produce, and necessity only will make them purchase that grown in a foreign country; yet the government encourages the importation of foreign rice by exempting the ships which bring it from port charges. This advantage, however, is in a great degree rendered nugatory by the exactions of the lower mandarins, which have frequently caused ships to proceed no farther than Lin-tin, where the rice has been disposed of to coasting junks.

The Chinese display considerable skill in the cultivation of fruit trees. In planting them, practice has taught them the same lesson which

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science teaches, that the best situation is the low grounds that form banks of rivers. The alluvial soil of which they are composed, being an intermixture of the richest and most soluble parts of the neighbouring lands, with animal and vegetable matter, affords a fund of nourishment for the growth of fruit trees. Hence they are found on the sides of Chinese rivers, which are commonly high embankments of rich mud, thrown up as dikes for the protection of the fields; and the roots are in this manner fed by the water without being swamped. The fine appearance of the fruit cultivation along the Canton river, in oranges, plaintains, etc., attests the efficacy of this system of planting fruit trees: their growth and vigour are promoted by the application of liquid manure to their roots, in the same manner as it is applied to the vegetables.

The following is a brief view of the different kinds of cultivation in China, as observed by the English embassy in 1816, while travelling between Pekin and Canton. On landing in the gulf of Pechely, the alluvial flats along the river leading to Pekin exhibited a dreary waste, with only occasional patches of cultivation, chiefly confined to millet, and small clumps of trees. The banks of the river sometimes exhibited traces of tillage. This aspect continued to the neighbourhood of Tien-tsin, which terminates the grand canal to the north, and between which city and the sea the whole country is almost one continued marsh. After passing Tien-tsin, the face of the country bore a different aspect. Millet, beans, the sesamum orientale, the ricinus communis, or castoroil plant, the pa-tsae, elm, willow, and ash

were observed growing. On entering Keang-nan, the country considerably improved, and the northern parts of that province were highly fertile, being cultivated chiefly with rice and millet. In the neighbourhood of Nankin, the banks of the river Keang were planted with groves of thuya orientalis; rice also grew in alluvial patches, and the cotton shrub was here observed. In proceeding along the river towards Keang-sy and the Poyang lake, the cultivation of rice prevailed. On approaching the side of the lake, the country became hilly and wooded. In the province of Keang-sy the finest scenery commenced. Its valleys were covered with grain, vegetables, and sugar canes, while its hills were adorned with plantations of the single white camellia, whose seeds afford the favourite vegetable oil of the Chinese. In this province other plants and trees of great beauty and utility were observed, as the croton fir, and camphor trees, and the varnish shrub. In the neighbourhood of the Meiling pass sugar plantations made up the chief scene in the landscape; and on arriving at the ridge which divides off the Canton province to the south, extensive woods appeared. From the pass itself to within two days' journey of Canton, there was little else than a succession of sterile but picturesque mountains. As far as Chaou-chow-foo, the river was lined with barren limestone cliffs, their intervals being thickly wooded. From Chaou-chow-foo southwards were red sandstone rocks, gradually flattening into an alluvial country, which, as it approached Canton, was cultivated richly with rice and fruit trees. Below Canton the river forms a large delta, the

whole of which has been converted, by means of embankments, into an extensive level for the cultivation of rice.

The provinces of Che-keang, Keang-nan, Hoope, and Sze-chuen, are celebrated for the cultivation of the common mulberry tree, which is grown for the purpose of feeding silk-worms. The principal object in the cultivation of this tree is, to produce the greatest quantity of young and healthy leaves, without fruit. To effect this, the trees are not allowed to exceed a certain age and height. They are planted at a convenient distance from each other, on the plan of a quincunx, and the spaces between them are generally filled with millet, pulse, or other articles of food. They are pruned at the commencement of the year. About four eyes are left on every shoot, and the branches are so arranged as to give plenty of light and air to the leaves. While vegetating, they are carefully watched, and the mischiefs of insects prevented by the application of essential oils or other mixtures. The young trees suffer by being stripped of their leaves; but the evil is in part counteracted by pruning and lopping the tree, so as to diminish the wood. Fresh plants are procured by cuttings, or layers, and sometimes from seed. When the trees become aged, and show a tendency to bear fruit, they are either uprooted, or so cut as to produce fresh branches.

Besides the mulberry tree, in feeding the worms, the Chinese sometimes have recourse to a wild species of the mocus tribe, and to another tree, supposed to be a variety of the ash. The houses in which the worms are reared are usually placed in the centre of each plantation of mul

berry trees, in order that they may be removed as far as possible from any noise; experience having taught them that it tends to their destruction. Sometimes a whole brood has perished by a thunder storm, and even a loud shout of the human voice, or the bark of a dog, proves frequently destructive to the insect.

The Chinese, in common with the Japanese, also pay great attention to the cultivation of the paper mulberry tree, the skin and the bark of which are converted into paper.

Of all the trees and shrubs indigenous to China, however, the tea plant is the most remarkable and important. To the Chinese peasantry it affords a profitable employment; to the government it is a source of revenue; while to numerous and distant nations it affords a refreshing beverage.

The tea plant is an evergreen, somewhat resembling the myrtle in appearance. It grows to a height varying from three to six feet, and is capable of enduring great variations of climate, being cultivated alike in the neighbourhood of Canton, where the heat is intense, and around the walls of Pekin, where the winter is sometimes as severe as in the north of Europe. The best kinds are the production of the more temperate climate of Nankin province, which occupies nearly the middle station between the two extremes above mentioned. The greatest portion of that which is brought to the Canton market, and sold to European merchants, is the produce of the hilly province of Fokien, which is situated on the sea coast, to the north-east of Canton.

The cultivation of the tea plant affords