The Garden.

CHINESE MARKET GARDENING. v , We. have been taking a look at the 'Chinese market gardens in the neighbour"hood of Dunedin, with a view of ascertaining the merits of the Mongolian j-ayatem of grdwing vegetatilesl ' As far as E our observations have extended, the practice- of 'these gardeners appears to be, 'precisely similar. They seem to be. good4iidges of soil, selecting only the richest, tand; deepest loam, and they are always e careful".in having a' supply of water, .at hand. Having selected good land, • fjindi facilities , for obtaining a supply .of water; to be used at all seasons, the ;»ext desideratum, no matter how rich the Aground "may be, is an abundant supply of .manure. ' John- obtains this on easy. terms. His cart which brings vegetables to -market never returns empty. It is loaded with the finest stable manure, for .which he. pays nothing. He has only the > } of loading and unloading, and in; (loading he is at times' assisted by the. Btable man, who is glad to get rid of a| nuisanoe.' This , manure, . when not required for immediate use, is heaped in--the garden^and holes being made around; dfc^everjf drop of the drainage, after a .heavy rain, is made use of to push on the ! '' of 'rhubarb, lettuceß, cauli-, radishes, or other crops requir-, : iiig a stimulant. t ' # V' It appears that most of the Ohinamen .■who could speak English, and from whom mformajkion might have, been obtained, tlave \ left ,for China, having made what ,'ithey consider fortunes, some intending to .return.tp make another haul, but most of them to remain. We visited three or four garden!, 'but there was only one at which we found a man " who could speak a few rw'o'rdeT of • Leong Foy- was his jfiamei -^{H? andfivAor;Bix r partners, most tojPySom worked, in the '. garden, had pleased .five ' acres from Mr Anderson at Oaversham, which they had held for two »The land is level, and the soil is a deep free loam, with' a small stream running through it. Every inch of the five aores 'was -under crop/ There was more ground under cauliflowers than any other vegetable, and they were of fine growth and injft promising condition. Great attention appeared to be given to celery, which, was'-planted three rows in a trench, and managed after the system adopted by English gardeners. There were large quantities of cabbages, spinach, onions, parsnip's, ; turnips, ■ leeks, lettuces, radishes, peas, beans, and some red cabbages and culinary' herbs. ' They also grow hemp and canary seed,' and appear to understand thaifa root crop should be followed by a seied. crop. There were large piles of manure, from the Dunedin and Oaversham cow-houses and stables, which is apparently used when required, whether rotted or. < not. .; There was no sign of a spade about the places we visited, but we Uotice,d long-handled' shovels, hoes, and three-pronged forks, with which they break* iip the ground. Fresh manure, Sroken up into fine particles, was being spread : byeV the ground, from which peas,, celferj^ and ' other' crops had just been gathered, ' to be dug immediately and aojni yrith onions. John was well aware of .the fact that April is the best month for sowing onions. As soon aa one orop is gathered, no matter what the season may be, another is put in, even although its success may be very doubtful, the great' object being to' have a supply for all' seasons, 1 and especially to be first in the' market. John beliove3 in missing no chance, and he knows how to charge when an article is scarce. He never allows , a piece of ground to lie idle ; his main reliance being upon constant stirring of t^e|, ground, weeding, and plenty of manure, and water. , Weeds are never allowed to get. a foothold. They are destroyed when young, and the plants are most carefully thinned out, their growth ne^ey, , being checked by dry weather. Two large watering-pots or kerqaene tins converted into pots, slung qii a five-foot; pole, are' carried round on a trot, morning, noon, and night, whenever the earth beoomes dry. No matter whether the sun shines or not, if the ground is dry it must be drenohed with water. When tho ground is prepared for seed, it must be watered; the Beed before being sown is soaked, and the ground, when it is sown, receives a soaking. If the weather is Tery hot,- the seed beds are Bhaded. John never bothers his mind about religion or politics. All his thoughts are centred upon his work, the sole object being to accumulate enough to enable him to •

return to his family and friends in China. The Chinese system is one of forcing, and the vegetables grown by them have neither the substance nor the flavour of

those grown by a more natural process. For lettuces, radishes, and others, the system of constantly watering is no doubt an effective one, but for other kinds again it certainly is not so good, and it is a notorious fact that Chinese cabbages contain instead of sugar and starch an undue proportion of moisture. The strong points in Chinese gardening, then, are constant watering and manuring and continual stirring of the soil. This system is, no doubt, the result of a much older experience in the culture of the soil than that of Europeans, and we maintain that with all our science and socalled civilisation, we have something to learn from the heathen. The Chinamen have beaten our London market gardeners in these Colonies, and the question arises, are they to be allowed to starve the Europeans out, and monopolise the whole field 1 They have been successful here. They have made large sums of money, which they have carried off to enrich their own country, and they will make more still. We hear that some of them now are leasing rich flat soil — for they will have none but the very best — for countrymen who are yet to arrive. An effort should be made, wethink, to perform the work .which they ; doat much less expense. By vising ploughs, windmills, and other improved contrivances for saving labour, and by watering, manuring, and cultivating as they do, they may, we should think, be driven out of the field, or at all events, be prevented from, monopolising the market garden business.