24 



Land Development and Colonization. This is proceeding 

 slowly. It is not organized and the Government has done little 

 in the way of aid. Transportation is difficult, and the ownership 

 of available land is often in the hands of large land-owners who 

 hold for the future. But there is a substantial current both 

 into Mongolia and into Manchuria. 



Chinese Agriculture and Chinese Business. It is stated that 

 85% to 90% of Chinese exports are soil grown. As in most 

 other countries the products of the soil furnish the major part 

 of the raw materials of industry and of articles of domestic 

 commerce. 



Chinese Agriculture and World Agriculture and Industry. 

 Already cotton, silk, oils, and certain food products like rice and 

 wheat flour are appreciable factors in both world agriculture 

 and in the development of industry and commerce. Eventually 

 China must be a prime factor in the supply of the world's food 

 and other products of the land. 



Chinese Agriculture and Chinese Political Life. The only 

 hope of a true democracy is an intelligent and reasonably pros- 

 perous farm population, with a fair amount of literacy, fully 

 supplementing the democratic development of the cities. . 



Legislation and Agriculture. Agricultural progress will be 

 slow in China until the provincial governments at least can 

 make laws for the benefit of the farmers that will be steadily 

 enforced. Some of the needed laws are as follows: (a) The 

 State support of schools for children, adequate aid for educating 

 adult farmers, and substantial support for fundamental agricul- 

 tural investigation; (b) A scientific land survey, and the 

 establishment of farm boundaries, (c) Uniform taxation; the 

 taxation of idle land; the abolition of likin, which is a transit 

 tax on agricultural products and in some cases is little short of 

 robbery, (d) Protection against imported pests and diseases of 

 plants and animals, and against their local spread, (e) Laws 

 encouraging the establishment of credit societies and co-opera- 

 tives, (f) Means of obtaining accurate records of weather 

 and climate, securing data as to crops, yields, prices, etc. 

 and in general securing the information about Chinese farm- 

 ing that is necessary to intelligent public interest and wise 

 legislation. 



