Page:The international development of China (IA developmentchina00suny).pdf/237

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DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA
203

the storage of grain is most wasteful for if kept in large quantities it is often destroyed by insects or damaged by weather. It is only in small quantities and by great and constant care that grains can be preserved for a certain period of time. And the transportation of grains is also most expensive for the work is mostly done on man's shoulders. When the grains reach the waterway it is carried in a most makeshift way, without the least semblance of system. If the method of storing and transporting of grain be improved, a great economic saving could be accomplished. I propose that a chain of grain elevators be built all over the country and a special transport fleet be equipped all along the waterways by this International Development Organization. What will be the capital for this project and where the elevators should be situated have yet to be investigated by experts.


c. The Preparation and Preservation of Food

Hitherto the preparation of food is entirely by hand with a few primitive implements. The preservation of food is either by salt or sun heat. Mills and cannery method are scarcely known. I suggest that a system of rice mills should be constructed in all the large cities and towns in the Yangtze Valley and South China where rice is the staple food. Flour mills should be put up in all large cities and towns north of the Yangtze Valley, where wheat, oats, and cereals other than rice are the staple food. All these mills should be under