Ju spite of dry weather Gating the Tenghalen, Sung, Oct. 21,
<summer and autumn, crops in' this district have been good. On account. of floods last autumn, a considerable portion of the land could not be sown, in wheat, which is the principal crop Of this part of the country. Of course this smaller acreage meant.a reduetion Inthe amount of wheat raised, ut those elds which' were sown produced a good crop. The Kaoliang millet also did well, and the bean crop has been estimated at about 70 per cent. of a full yield, Sweet potatoes are being harvested and appear, to be in good condition, Large quantities of ginger are shipped from Tenghsien gvery. year. Ginger seems to have occupied an im: portant place among the food pro ducts of Shantung for thousands of years, "The old home of Confucius 13 hot very" far from. Tenghsien and every reader of the Analects will recall that the famous sage ate ginger at every' meal, phe Pears constitute a very Galuable item of commerce being packed in large baskets, containing about 200 Ib each, They are shipped south as fast the fallzoad can. handle them, but there is. alw liliand, awaiting ears, One can see over 000 baskets of pears in the-freight a any day, Perhaps enough to load ten, or more' freight cars. These baskets stand onthe ground In the open yard, A hard rain would do serious damage and a severe freeze would be fatal, tu some. years, hhunreds or thousands of baskets pears are ruined while waiting shipment. Merchants" say that, vin lverdge season, between 20,000" and 449000" baskets "of pears are. shipped irom Tenghsien alone at an average Dilee of more than $4 per basket. Of Course. this means'a neat sum for of the' dlstrlet tain Much In Demand At present the weather is very dry and roads are covered with deep dust. The autumn wheat 1s beginning to grow, but-it etnnot make much progress without rain, The water table In the ground Is lower than usual and there 1s a. scarcity for all purposes. -—imhls"part of the country Is dotted with shallow, wells, from 20 to 30 feet deep, which supply an abundance water in ordinary seasons, but now they are failing. The late garden crops, stich as Chinese cabbage, need constant irrigation: but there. is not enough water available for this pur-Pose, "Heavy. raing are not be expected at this seaton and the tion fs. becoming more and: more serious.
The price of grain is rising. to an unusual gute, which is due in part to. the fact that: the government uying large supplies for the armies, but other factors are involved. doubt some of the farmers are afraid of paper money and prefer to hoard their grain instead of selling it and holding banknotes, The drought makes next year's wheat crop very uncertain and, of course, raises the Attendance, in the North China Theological Seminary is well above Inst year's figures, There are now 117 men and 47 women in the institu. on, representing 21 provinces and So far as is known, this Is the fest theological seminary in China; ud it is steadily growing in numbers and "In influence throughout. China,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.