re,
subjected to rains, and we found there huge gorges that had evidently
been forming for centuries. All of the soil there, that is not too
uneven to be cultivated, is terraced; and along the sides of the
terraces walnut trees are planted. We usually found tunnels along the
sides of the terraces. These were dug around the bank so that the water
would run through the tunnels instead of over the terrace.

We saw no indications of blight. We thought we saw it in one case, but
when we examined the nuts, it proved to be nothing but insects working
on the hulls.

Wherever we went, we were told by the Chinese that they harvest their
walnuts at about the time of the year which in America would be about
the first week in September. We found, however, that the nuts were off
of the trees and assembled on the ground for sorting and drying, long
before that. They were put in windrows covered with millet straw and
left for ten days, after which time the hulls were chipped off with
knives and the nuts immediately washed and put on the market. I was
particularly struck with the mechanical motion with which the Chinese
men worked; it was just as regular as a machine. This was the first time
that characteristic came to my attention, and afterwards I was struck
with the same thing everywhere.

Each farmer takes his products, whatever they may be, to a common town
called "market town," and there they are bought by the local merchants,
or the "compradors." The exporters are missionaries and foreigners who
make no effort to buy from the farmers, for the tradesman, or comprador,
can get the nuts at a better figure than can the foreigners. The
tradesman gets his commission in addition. The baskets of nuts are
carried on poles placed over the shoulders of the Chinese.

One of the principal walnut centers of Chantung Province is 25 miles
from the railroad, and we made quite an effort to reach it. An
agricultural missionary, a Mr. Gordan, made the trip there with me, and
we found it a badly infested section. We arrived about three o'clock in
the afternoon and took about one hour going around to see the nuts.
There were places within the wall where nuts had been assembled, and we
made estimates as to the number of pounds. I think there were from 100
to 150 sacks of nuts in a pile.

Many of the women and children grow walnuts and these crops are
inspected and sorted before being shipped to Peking. In the early
summer, we saw quantities of ap