that we deviated greatly from the point in view, could he read our treatises ancient and modern, our marvellous speculations on agri|culture: what would he say, if he saw our lands, part of them fallow, part of them employed in useless cultures, and the remain|der wretchedly laboured? What would he say, what must be his feelings, if, in travelli••g over our fields, he observed the ex|treme misery and barbarism of their wretched cultivators?
The Chinese lands, in general, are not superior to ours: you see there, as with us, s••me excellent grounds, others middling, the rest bad: some soils strong, o|thers light: lands where clay, and lands where sand, gravel, and flint every where predomi|nate.
All these grounds, even in the northern provinces, yield annu|ally two crops, and in those to|wa••ds the s••uth often five in two years, without one singl•• fallow season, during the many thou|sand•• of yea••s that they have been converted to the purposes of a|griculture.
The Chinese use the same ma|nures as we do, in order to re|store to their grounds those salts and ju••ce, which an unintermit|ting production is perpetu••lly consuming. They are acquaint|ed with mar••: They employ also common sal••, lime, ashes, and all sorts of animal dung, but a|bove all that which we throw in to our rivers: They make great use of urine, which is carefully preserved in every house, and sold to advantage: in a word, e|very t••ing p••••duced by the earth is re conv••yed to it with the greatest care, into whatever shape the operations of nature or art may have transformed it.
When their manures are at any time scarce, they supply the defi|ciency, by turning up the ground with the spade, to a great depth, wh••ch brings up to the surface of the field a new soil, enriched with the juices of that which de|scends in its room.
Without meadows the Chinese maintain a number of horses, buf|faloes, and other animals of every species necessary for labour, for sustenance, and for manure — These animals are fed, some with straw, others with roots, beans, and grain of every kind. It is true, they have fewer horses, and horned cattle, in proportion, than we have, yet it is not necessary that they should have more.
The whole country is cut into canals, dug by the industry of the inhabitants, extending from river to river which divide and water this vast empire, like a garden. —Travelli••g, transporting of goods, almost every species of carriage is performed on these canals, with great ease, and small expence: They do not even use ho••ses to drag their boats; every thing is done by the sail or the car, which they manage with sin|gular dexterity, even in going up the rivers. Where any kind of labour can be performed, at a moderate price by m••n, it is a maxim with them never to em|p••oy animals. In consequence of th••s, the banks of thei•• canals are cul••ivated almost to the water's edge: They lose not an inch of ground: Their public roads re|semble our foot-paths: Their ca|nals, however, are infinitely more useful than highways: They convey fertility every where, and