A few weeks ago the people were bemoaning the fact that the Rain God was unkind, and prophesying crop failures and more famine. However, the prayers of some de-vent believers seam to have wakened him up somewhat and latterly we have been having rain and snow iv abundance. Already one can see 2 change in the appearance of the wheat and the past week's moisture ought to_ensure a bumper crop. At least, the farmers all seem te be cheerful with anticipation. Just prior to Chinese New Year, after the soil had dried up sufficiently, ploughmen and oxen were busy getting the land into shape. I watched men ploughing one day. The same amount of effort and time is expended in making a five or six inch furrow that Canadian farmers use in cutting a much deeper one. One's imagination is fired when one thinks what fine results could be produced with deeper ploughing. Where experiments have been made, using American ploughs, the results have been excellent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.