Pieces of the thickest flannel must be had for each board, cut so as to fit exactly within the ledges. These flannels require to be well soaked, and repeatedly washed in boiling water, before they can be used, to discharge from them whatever is pernicious to vegetation as they come from the manufacturer’s hands.

The board and flannel thus prepared, dip the flannel in water, and place on the boards; sow the seeds pretty thick and regularly; sprinkle them lightly with the hand, till all are moistened and the flannel completely saturated; in which state it should always be kept during the growth of the plants. Too much water floats the seeds when first put on, and are thereby shifted from their places by the motion of the ship. The cover-board must now be put on, and the whole hung up in its place. The use of this board is to assist the vegetation of the seeds, which it will do sufficiently in the course of twenty-four hours; after which it may be laid aside.

The board must be frequently examined, and when the moisture thereon is diminished by evaporation, or imbibed by the crop, a supply must be given, just enough to keep the flannel in the proper saturated state.

In six or seven days the crop will be (if the weather has been favourable) two inches high,—it is then fit for use. The produce [p234] of one board yields about as much as will fill a middle-sized salad-bowl, and when dressed up with the usual condiments of onion, salt, vinegar, and oil, a most agreeable salad will be composed, and a most acceptable treat to the guests at the captain’s table.

It is necessary that the board, as well as the flannel, be scalded, well washed, and dried in the sun, before it can be used again;—and as one board yields one crop per week, two, or even three boards may be used at the same time, in order to secure a regular supply. Larger boards are not so convenient, because they can only be hung in some by-corner of a cabin, quarter-gallery, or state-room, where they may not only be out of the way, but out of the sun and currents of air.

The herbs suitable to be raised in this way are, radish, mustard, and common garden-cress. The two first answer best within the tropics; the last does not, being too delicate and diminutive;—but this does very well when the ship is no nearer the equator than thirty degrees of latitude. One peck of radish, another of mustard, and two quarts of cress, will be sufficient for an India and China voyage,—a supply of which may be had in China.

I. M.

26. Chinese Method of fattening Fish.

A few observations on their piscinas, or fish-stews, is the design of this paper; not merely as an historical description, but as an object for imitation in this or any other country.

For twenty or thirty miles round Canton, and as far as the eye can reach on each side of the river on which that city stands, the general face of the country appears nearly a level plain, with but little undulation of surface. The level is, however, richly studded with beautiful hills, which diversify the landscape, and seem to rise out of the plain so abruptly, that they form the most picturesque features, united with the most pleasing combinations. The soil of the plain consists of a pure alluvial earth of great fertility and depth, and very retentive of water; which, by the by, is a proof that, notwithstanding their claim to high chronological antiquity, the waters of the deluge remained much longer (perhaps for ages) on this portion of the continent of Asia, than it did in the interior: and the circumstance of many of their hills being cultivated to the [p235] very top, their numerous water-plants, and their almost amphibious habits as to their domiciles, are still further proofs that the country was, once, more of an aquaium than it now is. Hence the facility of making canals, which are their high-roads (as wheel-carriages, and beasts of draught, are too expensive appendages, for the systematic economy of the celestial empire!) and hence the ease with which a pond may be made in any otherwise useless corner. Such tanks, or ponds, are generally met with in market-garden grounds, where they serve the double purpose of a reservoir, and a stew for rearing and fattening fish.