This does not apply to Manchuria where such an article a3 soya beans finds a ready shipment, The districts in which sesamum seed grows in China proper have during 1925 been largely debarred from railway communication, and those firms which at the opening of the season entered into forward contracts have on the whole not fared well. Where a quantity such as 4,000 or 6,000 tons was contracted for, only a few hundred tons, if so much, was forthcoming, and as a result ' those engaging in the business stood to lose heavily. Nor is the attitude of the farmers who grow the seed too encouraging. They demand high prices, notwithstanding that low quotations may have been received from abroad at the port of shipment, and as a rule refuse to accede to any suggestion of reduction to meet competition elsewhere, Added to this is one special factor making for a smaller harvest. The military officials know that opium is a profitable crop which is susceptible to heavier taxation than anything else, and a certain proportion of the ground which would normally be given over to the cultivation of seeds is diverted to the drug. Even although a small
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