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plough back as possible. The first rice crop was harvested as close to the soil as possible as the ploughed back straw was of less value; it was the straw of this harvest that was kept as cattle feed and for other similar purposes.
Fallowing of fields and crop rotation to permit natural regeneration of fertility was not regularly used, and seems to have been extremely rare in valley padi or even moderately good hillslope padi. Dry ground and poor hillslope padi was, however, fallowed intermittently, but with little regularity or customary detail.
The practices noted here represent the major, but by no means the only fertilisers in regular use in New Territories villages before modernisation. Other organic wastes were used as and when opportunity arose. They represent the practice of the New Territories area, but not necessarily that even of other parts of Kwangtung. In Swatow and parts of Waichow, for instance, feces and urine were, it would seem, stored up together and used as liquid fertiliser when they had broken down and matured into a black oily liquid; in these areas ashes are collected separately and form the only dry manure used. J. Dyer Ball, in his article quoted, speaks of slow burning of vegetable wastes in clamp fires under turf to form a charcoal-like rich ash used particularly to prepare seedbeds; this seems to be a practice of the Canton area and would seem to be unknown in the New Territories area.
These practices, which alone accounted for the continuing high fertility of rice fields even in the face of relentless year-in-year-out cropping, while unsavoury, are obviously important and warrant further study: this Note aims only at indicating the types of information to be found.
NOTES
1 J. Dyer Ball, Things Chinese, Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1982, (reprint of 5th Edition, 1925, Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai), pages 22-23, "Agriculture", partly quoted from other writers.
Villagers from Sha Tin, North Sai Kung, and Sai Kung were questioned, with about 6 villagers assisting. The Note does not attempt to identify particular points with particular contacts: the points made represent the general consensus view. Most points were confirmed by several contacts.
8
Personal observation of the author in 1982.