100 



Foreign Crop Prospects. 



[may, 



United States. — The May Report of the Department of 

 Agriculture, as reported in the Times, gives the area under 

 winter wheat at the beginning of the-month 



Notes as to 29,623,000 acres. This is 241,000 acres 



FoFeigrn Crop t j 



Prospects. ^^^^ than the area harvested last year. The 

 average condition on May ist was 91, com- 

 pared with 92*5 on the same date last year. The average con- 

 dition of winter rye was 93, against 93*5 at the corresponding 

 date in 1905. 



Russia. — The Board have received through the Foreign Office 

 a report translated from the official Commercial and Industrial 

 Gazette of March 30th, O.S. (April 12th). It states that the 

 prospects in thirteen southern and ten Polish Governments are 

 very good. The early spring at first aroused anxiety in some 

 places in consequence of late frosts, but these fears have been 

 dispelled in the southern Governments, at least for the winter 

 sowings, as the latter are now well advanced in growth. There 

 are no indications in the report of unsatisfactory regions. As 

 regards spring sowings, they began everywhere much sooner 

 than usual. No diminution in the area under grain seems to 

 have taken place. 



According to a report from Consul Medhurst, dated 25th 

 April, the winter sowings are coming up well in the Kuban and 

 Stavropol districts of the Caucasus. The spring sowings, which 

 promised to be equally good, required rain badly. In the Don 

 country and parts of the Ekaterinoslav district, personally 

 visited, both spring and winter sowings looked promising, slight 

 rains having fallen quite recently. From portions of the Don 

 and Northern Caucasus reports are to hand stating that no 

 rain has fallen since the 31st March, and that it is feared every- 

 thing will be dried up. 



Germafiy. — According to the official report on the condition 

 of crops in the middle of April, the average condition of both 

 winter wheat and winter rye was 2'6 (very good = i, good = 2, 

 medium = 3). The winter crops came through the winter 

 relatively well. The cold wet weather in March and the fre- 

 quent night frosts had an unfavourable effect, but a general im- 

 provement in condition was clearly visible after the warm weather 

 in April. Spring cultivation, which was somewhat retarded by 

 rough weather in March, was quickly got through in April. 



