294 Journal op the Department op Agriculture. 



The Maize Crop of the Union. 



It is iuteiestiiig- to compare the position of the' irnion's principal 

 ( ro]» witli the ])roduction of maize in the foiomost maize growing' 

 countries of the Axorlcl. For this purpose tlie following statistics 

 are given : — 



Total Pre ductioii. 



1<)10 ... United States 2,504, 19:^., 825 bu.shels. 



1U15 ... Hungary 175,025,170 .. 



1916 ... Argentine Republic 156,202,330 ., 



1915 ... Rununiia 83,767,793 



1915 ... British India ... 79,684,680 ,, 



1916 .. Italy 76,326,678 ,, 



1916 ... Russia in Europe 69,786,137 ,, 



Far I /if 1917-18 .•ii'asan the Unian produced 42,133,633 ,, 



In Mexico a very large acreage is put to maize, ranking next 

 to that of the United States, but poor agricultural methods result 

 in poor yields. The latest available statistics show that in 1906 

 Mexico in-oduced 110.005.000 bushels. 



The total production of the princii)al nuiize growing cou)itries 

 of the world is given (U.S.A. Year Book, 1918) at 3.642,103,000 

 bushels in 1916, the annual average production for 1911-13 being 

 3,813.408.000 bushels and for 1914-16. 3.873,868.000 buslu'ls. 



The 1917-18 maize season in the Union was an unfavourable one, 

 sowings and the early growth of the crop having been affected by 

 excessive rains, and it is estimated that the final condition of the 

 crop Avhich was returned by the Census as being 12,640,0!)0 bags of 

 200 lb. was 32 per cent, below normal. Therefore, had the season 

 been nn (jrdinarily favourable one the crop would have yielded 

 approximately 18,588,000 bags or 61.960,000 bushels of 60 lb.' 



Yield per Acre. — The yield i)er acre obtained in tlie T^nion is 

 \('i>' low in comparison with that obtained in other countries as 

 the following figures show: — 



Yield |HT Acre. 



191 (i ... United States 23.63 bushels. 



1915 ... Hungary ... 28.26 ,, 



1916 ... Argentine Republic 15,73 ,, 



1915 ... Eumania 16.09 ., 



1915 ... British India 13.12 ,, 



1916 ... Italy 19.93 ,, 



1916 ... Russia in Europe 19.04 ,, 



The return per acre in the Union for 1917-18 was 7.3 ,, 



The above leturn per acre of 7.3 bushels is equivalent to 2.2 bags 

 per acre, but had the season been favourable the full return per acre in 

 the Union would have been approximately 3.2 bags or 10.7 bushels, 

 not taking into account the production of native locations, reserves, 

 etc. 



