410 Notes on Agriculture Abroad. [august, 



difficulties experienced at the customs by importers of British machinery 

 since April ist, when the new tariff came into force. To avoid trouble 

 and possible fines, the following rules should be observed : — 



1. On declaration at customs a plan or drawing of the machine 

 must be produced. 



2. The weight of the machine must be given very exactly. 



3. Extra change pieces should be packed apart from the machine, 

 and declared separately. 



The Soy Bean Industry of Manchuria* — The following information 

 is taken from the report by H.M. Consul at Newchwang (Mr. F. E. 



Wilkinson) on the trade of that district in 

 Notes OH I 9°9 {F-O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4440). 



Agriculture Abroad. ^he consumption by Manchuria of beans 



and bean cake is small. Beans, except to a 

 limited extent in the form of bean curd or vermicelli, which is made 

 from the green variety, do not enter into the diet of the population, nor 

 is any use made by farmers of bean cake either in manuring their fields 

 or feeding their cattle. The staple food of both man and beast in 

 South Manchuria is millet, and for the rich soil in the interior the 

 ordinary farm manure is the only fertiliser needed. It is probable, 

 therefore, that at least 90 per cent, of the total crop of South Manchuria 

 is available for export, which takes place mainly through the two ports 

 of Newchwang and Dairen (Dalny). In 1909, 178,000 tons of beans 

 and 318,000 tons of bean cake were exported from Newchwang, and 

 438,000 tons of beans and 276,000 tons of bean cake from Dairen, 

 making a total of 616,000 tons of beans and 594,000 tons of bean cake. 

 It is estimated that the total quantity of beans represented by the 

 combined exports of bean produce from South Manchuria was about 

 1,300,000 tons. 



Previously to 1909 the bean trade of Manchuria was entirely in the 

 hands of Chinese and Japanese merchants, there being no demand for 

 Manchurian beans elsewhere than in China and Japan, and, as the 

 supply almost invariably exceeded the demand, the farmers rarely got 

 more than the merest pittance for their harvests. At the time of the 

 first shipments to Europe the price of beans laid down at Dairen was 

 about ^3 10s. per ton. By the spring of 1909 the value of the soy 

 bean as an article of commerce had become generally known, and, a 

 large number of British and other firms entering the field as prospective 

 buyers, competition gradually drove the price up. The new crop, 

 though well up to the average, proved not to be equal either in quality 

 or quantity to that of 1908. The price of beans consequently rose still 

 further, and in February, 1910, it reached £6 55. per ton, the highest 

 point it has touched as yet. At the price mentioned, China and Japan 

 are practically out of the market as buyers, and about 80 per cent, of 

 the purchases of beans made since December last have been for the 

 European market. 



Use of Soy Bean Cake as a Fertiliser in Japan, and probable effect 

 of the European Demand. — The following information is taken from 



* Information as to production of Soy beans and their use as a feeding-stuff 

 appeared in this Journal, December, 1909, p. 735. 



