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agriculture of Manchuria gathered by them during the past autumn has been summarized for the benefit of the American Government.
I would particularly draw your attention to the concluding section of Mr. Parker's Report, in which he discusses the prospects of agricultural progress, and comes to the inevitable conclusion that the country is not in a condition at present to profit by modern scientific methods of agriculture, and that the first steps to be taken in developing the enormous potential resources of the three eastern provinces are to improve in every possible manner the facilities for the transportation of their agricultural products.
I have, &c.
Dear Sir,
(Signed)
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Mr. Parker to Mr. Cloud.
ROBERT WILLIS.
Bureau of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Mukden, November 26, 1908.
AT your request I give you herewith a summarized Report of the information concerning the agriculture of Manchuria, gathered by myself and Mr. W. H. Tomhave during the autumn of 1908.
1. Soil and Climate.
The typical soil of Feng-tien and Kirin Provinces is a loose clay loam, brownish in colour and of extraordinary depth and fertility. Sand and sandy loams are seen occasionally, and in many areas of relatively low level one finds the black, alluvial soil deposits indicative of the presence of water and water-loving vegetation, which in past ages has decayed to give the black colour to these soils." Province vast areas of loose sandy soils exist that are not adapted to a permanent In Hei-lung-chiang system of agriculture, but which furnish a rather sparse growth of wild grasses for grazing. The percentage of waste land in Feng-tien and Kirin is very small, and the brown fertile fields stretch away to the horizon in all directions, creating the impression of boundless areas of tillable soil as strongly as do the prairies of the Mississippi valley in America or the vast prairies of Manitoba. It is not a gross exaggeration to say that no large soil areas of the world contain more potential wealth than do the soil areas of Manchuria, the proof being shown in the crops that are taken from the soil by methods of culture that would bankrupt farmers on the best soils of the Mississippi valley.
While no statistics are at present available concerning the climate of Manchuria (except Hosie, 1898), the character of the vegetation indicates a humid climate having an annual rainfall of about 25 inches, and the crop growth indicates further a summer season in which the rapidity of the growth of crops is truly remarkable. Spring wheat, for example, matures in Manchuria in about 100 days, whereas in the same degree of latitude in America (42-46° north) spring-sown wheat requires 120 to 130 days to mature. The soy-bean also that is grown in all parts of Manchuria, from Dalny to Harbin (46° north), is confined to the relatively small area known as the cotton belt in the States, and its presence in these degrees of latitude is an indication of a very favourable growing season for staple agricultural crops. The climatic draw- backs of Manchuria are the spring sand-storms, which drift soil, retard early growth, and accelerate the evaporation of soil moisture, also the heavy rainfall that usually comes in July and August, the harvest season for wheat. A tender crop like wheat is therefore subjected in many seasons to the mercy of the elements, but wheat is also menaced in Canada by frost, and in the Mississippi valley by wind- and rain-storms preceding harvest.
To sum up this brief sketch of the soil and climate of Manchuria, it may be said that Manchuria is an extremely favoured region of the world for the growth of large areas of those staple crops that are fit for human food and capable of being stored and easily transported, and that the ability of this region to produce the soy-bean gives Manchuria an enormous advantage over regions unable to grow the soy-bean success- fully in the production of live-stock products, for bean-meal is a highly prized article of cattle food and would sell for 25 dollars to 40 dollars gold in the States or in Holland or Denmark.
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2. The Common Crops.
The universally grown crop of Manchuria is the kaoliang, or tall sorghum, which is the staple food of the people and is grown everywhere, from Dalny and Newchwang to Tsitsihar. The soy-bean is grown over a wide area also and is the only export crop of any importance, the oil expressed from the seeds going to South China for cookery, and the bean-cakes to Japan to be used as fertilizer on the rice-fields Beans are the great cash crop of the country, and the export of bean-cake must be viewed as a national waste by any observer familiar with the feeding of crop by-products to live stock, for if condensed into meat the cash equivalent would fully equal, if not exceed, the cash value of the raw products, and the manure from the cattle would remain on the land. As large markets for meat and dairy products do not exist in Manchuria and China, the export of hean-oil by-products will undoubtedly remain a feature of the agriculture of Manchuria until an export trade in meats is developed. In the northern provinces large areas of small millet or Japanese millet are grown, the product being used chiefly for human food. Spring wheat is grown in small areas in all regions of Manchuria, the chief wheat-producing areas being north-east of Tie-ling, about Hai-lung-fu, south of Ninguta, and in that portion of Sungari River region south-west of Harbin bounded on the south-west and south by the Sungari and on the east by the mountains. It is impossible to gain any idea of the total area devoted to wheat in Manchuria, for a large part of the crop is ground and consumed on the farms, and no statisties are available for that part of the crop which enters the commerce of the country. Harbin, Khabarovsk, Ninguta, Kuan-cheng-tzu, Kirin, and Tie-ling are the important wheat-buying centres. As far as we can determine, no attempt has ever been made to improve the present wheat seed of the country or to introduce new varieties, and the Chinese farmer uses the same seed as his ancestors, a seed of inferior quality, due to the many years of poor care and poor selection the seed has been subjected to. Samples of wheat exhibited in the Japanese flour-mill in Tie-ling resembled very closely the "Canadian Preston" and "Canadian Club"- types of wheat widely used in North America.
Buckwheat thrives luxuriantly in Manchuria, and samples seen at Tie-ling were of superior quality to the buckwheat of New York State and other favoured localities in America. Buckwheat is ground in small amounts in the native mills, but its consumption is relatively small compared to common wheat.
Tobacco is grown in all parts of Manchuria, and even about the villages of Eastern Mongolia one sees small patches of this crop. The best tobacco districts of Manchuria are reported to be north of Kirin, the town centres of this region being Wu-lai-kai, La-ling-chang, Wu-chang-ting, and Ku-yi-Shu. Kirin is the largest tobacco market of Manchuria, although tobacco finds its way into all the Chinese cities from A-Shah-ho in the north to Mukden in the south. Experts of the British American Tobacco Company report the native tobacco to be of excellent quality, and could the crop be properly planted, topped, and cured it could compete with Virginia and Carolina tobacc› from the States.
Small areas of Indian corn or maize are occasionally seen in Manchuria, one of the largest producing areas being situated east of Liao-yang. The maize grown by the natives is of very inferior quality, badly mixed, and with weak, degenerate types of ears-caused, without doubt, by the improper control of the seed. Manchuria undoubtedly has a naturally favourable soil and climate for maize, and with good seed and intelligent cultivation it is the opinion of the writer (unsubstantiated at present) that such soil areas as the Liao-ho valley could produce more human food with maize than with kaoliang.
The root crops of Manchuria do not cover sufficient area to deserve notice as staple crops, but in speaking of the potential agricultural wealth of the country it should be noted that the loose, loamy soils of this region are particularly favourable for such crops as potatoes and sugar-beets. The intense sunshine of summer is also favourable for beet-sugar growth, and beets grown last year at the local agricultural experiment farm showed amounts of sugar ranging from 14 to 18 per cent.-a remarkably high percentage of sugar.
Upland rice, barley, and hemp are also grown to some extent in Manchuria, but acreage is so small that they cannot be classed among the common or staple crops of the country.
the
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