September 23, 19211 



SCIENCE 



269 



wheat supply, while not so satisfactory as was 

 expected during the first part of the current 

 season, show at the present time no cause 

 for serious alarm. Estimates of the quantity 

 of wheat harvested in 20 countries, including 

 the United States, for 1921, total 2,461,430,000 

 hushels, compared with 2,384,143,000 . bushels 

 harvested last year according to data com- 

 piled by the Bureau of Markets and Crop 

 Estimates, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



The 20 countries included in this estimate 

 are the United States, Canada, Argentina, 

 Chile, Uruguay, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, 

 France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, British 

 India, Japan, Algeria, Tunis, Union of South 

 Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. These 

 countries produced approximately 68 per cent, 

 of the known wheat crop of the world during 

 the years 1903-1913, according to the annual 

 average production records of the bureau. 



Although the long-sustained drought 

 throughout the greater part of the Northern 

 Hemisphere was a serious menace to the 

 various crops in many countries, the fall- 

 sown wheat has not been afFected adversely 

 so much as was at first supposed. On the 

 contrary, the fall-sown wheat managed to ob- 

 tain a firm hold on the soil and a fairly 

 vigorous growth before the beginning of the 

 drought. 



Nearly all of northern and central Europe 

 will have larger wheat crops this year than 

 last, according to the last estimates made 

 by the bureau, Belgium and Greece being the 

 only countries in which smaller crops are ex- 

 pected. 



Outside of Europe, British India was most 

 seriously affected by the drought. The dry- 

 ness and the hot winds that have prevailed 

 throughout most of the growing season have 

 resulted in the very low yield 250,469,000 

 bushels of wheat, or about 50,000,000 bushels 

 less than the quantity normally consumed in 

 that country. "With the rice crop also seri- 

 ously affected, India is expected to import 

 wheat this year instead of exporting it. In 

 an average year before the World War, India 

 exported over 50,000,000 bushels of wheat. 



In Canada the total yield of spring wheat 

 is estimated at 273,020,000 bushels, of which 

 264,137,000 bushels were grown in Saskatche- 

 wan, Manitoba, and Alberta. Fall wheat, 

 grown almost exclusively in Ontario and 

 Alberta, was estimated at 15,473,000 bushels. 

 The total wheat yield of Canada for 1921 is 

 therefore 288,493,000 bushels, compared with 

 263,189,000 bushels last year. 



A very unsatisfactory feature in the present 

 international situation is the hopeless con- 

 dition of the Eussian crops. Unofficial reports 

 state that during last autumn and the spring 

 of this year only a very small area was sovm 

 to the various crops, resulting in a failure 

 to produce sufficient food for the country's 

 needs. It is also reported unofficially that a 

 considerable amount of wheat will yet be 

 imported by Eussia this year. But up to the 

 present time the amount of wheat, as well as 

 other foodstuffs, which will be imported is 

 conjectural, and the Bureau of Markets and 

 Crop Estimates is unable to make a definite 

 statement concerning it. 



In northern Africa, the wheat crop was 

 generally larger than last year. In Algeria, 

 thrashing results show a better yield than was 

 expected earlier in the season. In Tunis, bad 

 weather reduced the yields somewhat from 

 those expected earlier, while in Morocco the 

 crop was generally reported as satisfactory. 

 According to estimates published by the In- 

 ternational Institute of Agriculture at Eome, 

 these three countries are expected to produce, 

 for 1921, a yield of 66,138,000 bushels of 

 wheat, compared with 36,743,000 bushels in 

 1920. 



AN ENGLISH VIEW OF AMERICAN BIOLOC3Y 



At a recent meeting of the National Union 

 of Scientific Workers in the Eoyal School of 

 Mines, London, Sir Daniel Hall took the chair, 

 and a lecture was given by Mr. W. B. Brierley 

 head of the department of mycology at 

 Eothamsted on " Personal Impressions of 

 American Biological Eesearch." 



According to Science Progress Mr. Brierley 

 opened by explaining that his visit to America 

 was made primarily to attend the Phyto- 



