982 



Agriculture Abroad. 



[Jan., 



system undoubtedly lies a way to the solution to many problems 

 of this nature. 



It is frequently held that large holdings produce heavier 

 crops than do small holdings, and this opinion appears to be 

 Comparison of statistics of production 



-n J T published in Rumania. 



Produce on Large ^ ^ . . 



and Small Takmg the six years before the War 



Ho^din s in (1909-1914) as a period of inquiry, and 



Rumania hectares as the dividing line between 



large and small holdings, the Rumanian 

 statistics show that the production of the four main cereals — 

 wheat, oats, rye and barley — was greater on the large holdings 

 than on the small holdings. The yields given in each case 

 hereunder are in hectolitres per hectare.'-' Thus, in 1910, when 

 the yield of wheat was heaviest for the six years mentioned 

 above, the production on large holdings was 21.6 and on small 

 holdings 18.3". Similarly, by taking the year in which the 

 yield of each of the other cereals was heaviest, the statistics 

 show that oats produced in 1913 on large holdings 27.2, --ind on 

 small holdings 21.7; the yields for rye in 1910 were 19.3 and 

 15.3 respectively; while the barley production was in 1910 

 21.3 on large holdings and 18.0 on small holdings. Again, in 

 considering the years when the yield of each crop was lowest, 

 it is shown that, whilst in 1914 the production of wheat on 

 large holdings was only 9.2, the yield of small holdings dropped 

 to 7.4. Oats in 1909 show a yield of 22.4 for large holdings 

 and 17.0 for small holdings. The figures for rye in 1914 are 

 9.1 for large holdings and 8.1 for small holdings. Finally, 

 while the yield of barley in 1909 was 14.7 on large holdings, 

 small holdings produced 12.1. 



A similar result is obtained if potatoes and roots are added 

 to the scope of the inquiry. The 1918 statistics show the same 

 tendency; crops produced on large holdings are heavier than 

 those produced on small holdings. In view of the splitting up 

 of the large estates in Rumania into peasant holdings, it will 

 be a matter of importance to those countries which have 

 hitherto been receiving the exportable surplus of the Rumanian 

 cereals whether such exportable surplus will be greatly 

 reduced or wiped out, by the loss of production that appears 

 always to occur under small holding management. 



"1 hectolitre = 2| bushels ; 1 hectare = 2i acres. To calculate the yield per acre 

 quantities given should therefore be multiplied by I'l. 



