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.
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Fig. 111.—Six carrying pails such as are used in distributing liquid manure to the fields.
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
