Agriculture and Ethnobotany of the Mekong Basin

The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) Vol. 4 (First English translation from 1873)

This fourth volume presents an in-depth overview of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, dye and textile plants, and medicinal plants, and discusses the main trade crops of the countries of the wider Mekong Valley, including Yunnan, Vietnam, Laos, Northeast Thailand, and Cambodia. The main impediments to greater productivity of these sectors are discussed in the framework of the beginning of French colonial expansion in the area. This overview contains a host of scientific facts on uses of plants and agricultural methods practiced on various types of land that cannot be found easily anywhere else. The book has been enhanced with a number of period scientific drawings of botanical taxa of interest to present-day readers and rare period photographs.