'The season has been good for crops. Poor or poorly-tended lands of course suffered from the drought. We had two fairly long spells of hot, dry' weather, but no serious drought. A. good average harvest of corn is being stored, and the tice crop will be above the average, in spite of folds directly dependent on showers, which were very short. The price of grain did not rise at all during the summer, which indicates that in addition t0 some surplus from last year there is assurance of enough of this crop to carry through.
Now people are making preparation for Autumn planting. There is uncertainty about what to plant. Still no offclal orders forbidding poppy, but it is well known that suppression definitely scheduled; s0 they might be ordered to destroy the growing crop, as once before when suppress sion was on. And even if allowed to gather the crop will they find a market which makes it worth while? The farmers are in a quandary. Probably they will decide to risk another crop of poppy—especially since most of them have taken to smoking aad want their own supply.
'A fair proportion of people are making a pretence of quitting the opium habit. Probably a few of them really will get clear of both opium and medicine,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.