the farmer followed the plough with a hollow bamboo, filled with seed, and with a round hole just above the bottom end; he held the bamboo above the drill and struck it rhythmatically with a stick....whereat from out the hole came popping three or four seeds at a time, at the perfect distance of a few inches....and he did not even have to bend his back to do it. The simple ingenuity of the Chinese farmer is indeed remarkable,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.