Letters, Aug. 10, 1959

(3 of 3)

The pod is scraped with a three-pronged scraper early in the morning, and the opium taken off with a knife before noon and wrapped in a poppy petal [see cut]. Stopping the opium trade is only half the problem. It is necessary to give these people other sources of income, as opium has been traditionally their source for trade goods. They get a low price for it, the profit going to unknown people further down the drug train.

W. R. GEDDES

Professor of Social Anthropology University of Sydney

Sydney, Australia

The Murmuring Pines ...

SIR:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINE ARTICLE AND THE SPLENDID COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE STORY ON THE FOREST SERVICE [JULY 20].

RICHARD E. MCARDLE

CHIEF

FOREST SERVICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

WASHINGTON, D.C.