raw materials for Irish manufacture will probably be reduced
 
                                                            
 
 
The wheat, barley, oats and potato harvest promised exceedingly well,   
although an April drought threatened both winter and spring wheat. In the  
north and south of Eire the wheat harvest was got in under reasonably   
favorable conditions, but in the midlands continued rain has damaged, if   
not ruined, a considerable proportion of the grain. A few weeks ago it was   
intimated that the wheat position was so favorable that unlimited white   
bread would shortly be announced, but the probability of this is  
now receding. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture have been so   
wide of the facts that little reliance can be placed upon them. They have   
been juggled for political purposes in the first place and have been   
        computed from unreliable data in the second.        
 
                                                            
 
 
The consequences of an unwise maximum price arrangement for wheat, oats,   
barley, and pork products as reduced pig production to a point where the   
supply is at present insufficient for home consumption. I have been   
exploring the possibility of stimulating this supply for American dollar   
purchase, but have met with no practical encouragement. I have also  
explored the possibility of purchasing other foods and manufactures for   
our army. The Ministry of Supplies promises great things, but, upon   
examination, it appears that the supplies do not exist or that  
                            the