It is not_uncommon in foreign barks on China to find its system of agriculture praised as the most. painstaking in the world and, perhaps, the best. he former it certainly may be, but that of itself is recommendation, At close range the ese farmer is seen to be industrious and unintelligent in equal parts. He re-tuees to budge from his rats no matter at what risk of gain and ease: A wealthy neighbour sero-s the read was informa! som+ twenty years ago by the writer that if he would select his seed with care year after year he would soon see a difference' between his yield and that of his ueignbours. He is a man who has travelled far and wide, and was once a follower of a Mancha Governor-general in Canton, but he only laughed, gave a grant of credulous incredulity, and went on as before. Another educate! man, however who has all his life avvreciated the advantage of contact with foreigners, tells us that he has selected is seeds for many years. All his neighbours sift their wheat just as he does. They sell the large grains, because they bring a good price, and plant the smaller ones because they answer for planting a perceptible fraction mire ground than the larger ones would. But the large grains yield earlier, better, and more surely, so that he always "ets three pecks (tou) more per mow than his neighbours, who grin and remark that "these Jesus Church people contrive to get better crops than we do," but they never inquire why, and do not care to follow suit if they know why!
The Cholera has gone by, but there are refluent waves of it still, and numerous deaths from this or some disease with complications in part resembling it are still common. This is a county of about eight hundred villages, and from what we know of the mortality it is ext to certain that the deaths cannot have been less than 7,000, and very probably have been fully 10,000. In other counties not remote the mortality has been far greater, so that it is easy to sea that a vast decrease of the population has taken place, but instead of making it easier for those who remain, it has doubtless added a vast burden of new debt ta the heavy ones already existing, as the old people must be buried in proper style whether it kills the survivors or not! The Yellow River has inundated a great region to the south-east of us as so often Fefore, but the Grand Canal has had no breaks. The usual misery and suffering will ensue in Shantung, for this is its chronic birthright. Much material for the new coal railway, running from Taokou to Huaich'ingfu and the is still going up the Canal, and we hope to seo the welcome coal in duo time,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.