3io 



Miscellaneous- Notes. 



[august, 



United States. — The Crop Reporting Board of the Bureau of Statistics of the 

 Department of Agriculture in its report on crop conditions on 1st July, states that 

 preliminary returns show the acreage under maize to be about 98,099,000 acres, an 

 increase of 1,361,000 acres as compared with the final estimate last year. The 

 average condition of the growing crop was 82*8 on 1st August as against 88 'i in 1906. 

 Preliminary returns indicate a winter wheat crop of 409,500,000 bushels, or an 

 average of 14 - 6 bushels per acre as compared with 167 bushels last year. The 

 average condition of spring wheat on 1st August was 79*4 as against 86 'g in 1906. 



World's Wheat Crop. — According to an estimate which appeared in Beerbohm' 's 

 Corn Trade List (26th July), the wheat crop of the world for 1907, is put at 

 388,750,000 qrs. (of 480 lb.) as against 443,080,000 qrs. in 1906, 422,645,000 qrs. in 

 1905, 401,860,000 qrs. in 1904, 411,545,000 qrs. in 1903, and 399,400,000 qrs. in 

 1902. " It is not, of course, possible to judge the world's crops yet with any degree 

 of certainty, but when we read the most reliable reports from the various countries, 

 it is impossible to resist the conclusion that a serious deficiency in the world's wheat 

 production, compared with last year, and, indeed, compared with the average is 

 inevitable." 



Opening for Fertilisers in Russia. — H.M. Consul-General at Odessa observes, in 

 his report to the Foreign Office (Annual Series, No. 3653), that efficient advertising 

 could open a vast market for British fertilisers containing 



Miscellaneous Notes. nitro s en - The P resent im P ort is sma11 in the south > but 



growing in the north ; prices are high and advertising 

 consequently the more necessary to place the import. 

 The nitrates find their way principally to Poland, to the Kiev Government, &c, for 

 use on the immense area under sugar beet. Much more could be done if sellers 

 would deal on the spot. Favourable results have been obtained by sending agricul- 

 tural chemists under whose directions parallel plots were cultivated with and without 

 phosphates, potash salts, &c. These demonstrations should be more widely practised. 



The best South Russian field for nitrates would be among the fruit gardens and 

 vineyards of the Crimea and Caucasus, where the highly intensive cultivation and the 

 rocky or shingly nature of the soil demand the use of fertilisers. But through the 

 whole district intensive cultivation is growing eveiy year, and with it the need of 

 fertilisers. 



National Dairy Show at Chicago. — The second National Dairy Show is to be 

 held at Chicago from 10th to 19th October, 1907 ; all branches of the dairying 

 industry will be represented, and numerous meetings of an educational character are 

 being arranged. 



Leaflet on the Pith Moth. —The Board's Leaflet (No. 90) on the pith moth is under 

 revision. Later observations on this insect have shown that there has been confusion 

 between two closely allied moth«, Lavema atra and Blastodacna vinolentella i and it 

 is the latter of the two insects which is described in the revised leaflet as being the 

 true pith moth, the caterpillars of which causes much damage to young apple and 

 possibly other fruit trees. The caterpillars of L. atra are found in autumn not in 

 apple shoots but in the fruits of the hawthorn. 



Directory of Lndustrial Associations. — The Directory of Industrial Associations 

 for 1907 (Cd. 3554, price \ \d.), has been issued bv the Board of Trade, and contains 

 the names and addresses of secretaries of all associations of employers or workpeople 

 concerned with questions affecting labour so far as known to the Department. The 

 names and addresses are also given of 2,646 workmen's co-operative societies, includ- 

 ing co-operative agricultural societies, egg and poultry societies, co-operative dairies, 

 agricultural insurance societies, and co-operative credit banks. 



Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops {Regulations).— A Return (H.C. 152) has been 

 presented to Parliament by the Local Government Board, showing (a) the names of 

 the Councils of Boroughs and Urban and Rural Districts who have made Regulations 



