News was received in Shanghai on Wednesday, announcing a heavy fall in the quotation for rice on the Osaka market. Three days ago. the quotation was Y.30 per koku. On the following day, there was a drop of Y.3, and on Wednesday Y.26.20 was cabled. There has been 1 drop of from three to four yen in the price of clean rice, quoted three days ago at Y.44.
There appear to be two causes for this fall in price. In the first place, weather conditions are very favourable to a good harvest and a big crop is expected. It will be found that the issue of an official report announcing the expected bumper harvest has been responsible for the drop.-having the effect of bringing into the market large stocks which the farmers were holding in view of high urices recently prevailing. Now they are practically forced to sell, and the result is an oversupplied market. The farmers themselves. many of whom have Jost heavily in silk, will he the chief sufferers in consequence of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.