lected more straws than she could readily grasp in one hand. The season in Chihli as in Shantung, had been one of unusual drought, making the crop short and perhaps unusual frugality was being practiced; but it is in saving that these people excel perhaps more than in producing. These heads of wheat, if left upon the ground, would be wasted and if the women were privileged gleaners in the fields their returns were certainly much greater than were those of the very old women we have seen in France gathering heads of wheat from the already harvested fields.
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Fig. 202.— Gathering wheat, harvested by being pulled and tied in bundles. Team consists of a small donkey and a medium sized cow, which constitute the most common farm team. Tientsin, China.
In the fields between Tientsin and Peking all wheat was
being pulled, the earth shaken from the roots, tied in
small bundles and taken to the dwellings, sometimes on
the heavy cart drawn by a team consisting of a small donkey
and cow hitched tandem, as seen in Fig. 202. Millet
had been planted between the rows of wheat in this field
and was already up. When the wheat was removed the
ground would be fertilized and planted to soy beans.
Because of the dry season this farmer estimated his yield
would be but eight to nine bushels per acre. He was ex-
