England and Wales — According to the January report of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture, up to the end of December tfiree-fourths of the land intended for wheat had been 

 seeded, and the sowings showed 6 to 7 per cent, decrease compared with those of the 

 previous year. The condition of early sown wheat w r as generally good, but that of 

 late sowings was not satisfactory. During January the condition of late sown wheat 

 improved. On February 24th Mr. George Broomhall reported that weather in the 

 United Kingdom was fairly seasonable and that some sowing was being done. (March 

 14. — Weather unfavourable, being wet and late; seeding is being adversely affected.) 



Scotland — The wheat area is reported as considerably less than that of last year 

 Except in a few localities the crop on February 1st was in promising condition. 



United States — The acreage sown to winter wheat in the United States last 

 autumn is estimated at 37,256,000 acres, against 42,012,000 acres sown in the previous 

 autumn, a reduction of 4,756,000. Besides this large reduction in the area sown all 

 reports go to show that there will be a greater area abandoned this spring on account 

 of winter killing than there was in the spring of 1915. During January and February 

 very unfavourable reports of the condition of the crop were published. Reports from 

 the "Modern Miller" republished in Broomhall's "Corn Trade News" stated that 

 early in January the winter wheat belt in the United States had lost its snow cover. 

 Towards the end of the month a general absence of snow was still complained of. On 

 February 8th according to Broomhall, there were several reports mentioning cold 

 weather in the winter belt and stating that frost had set in after rain had cleared the 

 snow from the fields. In Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska the frost was preceded by 

 snow. On February 25th, Russell's "Market News" quoting from the "Modern 

 Miller" stated that snow covering had been removed from the winter wheat crop, and 

 unfavourable reports were coming in from a wide area. The crop was thin and the 

 winter kill above the average. Unfavourable reports were coming in from southern 

 Kansas, southern Illinois and southern Indiana. 



France — October was in general a good month and sowing and preparatory work 

 were reported as proceeding with all possible speed. The weather in November was 

 rainy, cold, and dry by turns, with storms, frost, and snow. Cereals showing above 

 ground had generally a fine appearance. Towards the end of December George Broom- 

 hall's correspondent reported that the official estimate of the crop, making the total 

 production 237,000,000 bushels, was "greatly overestimated." On January 25th the 

 Government had published their estimate that 12,500,000 acres had been sown to 

 winter wheat up to January 1st compared with 14,500,000 bushels the preceding year. 

 Still, he hoped more winter wheat would be sown in January and February and, weather 

 favouring, some 500,000 to 1,200,000 acres might be sown to spring wheat. February 

 1st, there was reported continued mild weather which caused some anxiety, as it promoted 

 the growth of rank weeds and the development of insect pests. February 8. — Many 

 complaints of excessively wet fields. It was hoped that later on when the cereal crops 

 had made better growth that they would get ahead of the weeds and smother them. 

 Labour has been very short for the seeding of new crops. It was stated that during 

 February and March it was expected arrivals of foreign wheat and flour at French ports 

 would be at the rate of 5,600,000 bushels per month and that from April 1st onward 

 the arrivals would be at the rate of 7,200,000 bushels per month. 



The estimated requirements in 1914-15 were 41,000,000 bushels, but the actual 

 imports turned out to be some 70,000,000. It is believed that for the year 1915-16 

 also the forecast will be exceeded by the reality. Broomhall's cable of February 24th 

 stated that the outlook for wheat was fairly satisfactory. It was hoped that the 

 Government would furnish sufficient labour for large spring sowing. Imports for the 

 five months, August to December 31, 1915, were about 40,006,000 bushels. March 

 14. — Broomhall cabled: Supplies insufficient; importation continues on large scale. 



Italy — In November it was reported that in northern Italy cereals were growing 

 under satisfactory conditions, but that elsewhere there had been too much rain in 



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