566 



Crop Prospects Abroad. 



[dec, 



Germany. — According to the official report on the state of the crops in the middle 

 of November, the condition of winter wheat may be expressed numerically as 2*4 ; 



of winter spelt as 2*3 ; and of winter rye as 2*3 (1 =very 

 Notes Oil Crop good ' 2 = £ ood ' 3 ~ medium or average, 4 = small, 



5 = very small). Generally the condition is considered 



Prospects Abroad. t0 be very favourab i e . 



Poland. — Mr. Consul General Murray, in a 

 despatch dated 23rd November, states that August and September were very 

 ai«iy months, and in consequence, rye and wheat were only got in with 

 difficulty. A great deal of harm was done, but taking it all round the harvest in 

 Poland was not so bad after all. Winter cereals were worse than those sown in 

 spring, and winter wheat was especially bad in the Governments of Plock and 

 Warsaw. In Lithuania, the weather was no more favourable for cereals than in 

 Poland. The Government of Minsk suffered especially, and the harvest was a 

 failure. In both Poland and Lithuania a great deal of harm was done to potatoes 

 by the heavy and continuous rains at the end of the summer, especially in low lying 

 ground. As potatoes are the staple food of the peasants, and a very important 

 source of income to the landlords, who sell them to the spirit refineries and starch 

 factories, the failure of this crop is very serious. The only English potatoes grown in 

 Poland are the " Magnum Bonum " and the " Up-to-Date," but it is stated that their 

 yield diminishes steadily year by year. 



Trans- Caucasia. — The Board have received, through the Foreign Office, reports on 

 agriculture of the Batoum Consular District by Mr. Consul Stevens and of the 

 Novorossisk Consular District by Mr. Vice-Consul Geelmuyden. These are too long 

 to be reproduced, but the originals can be inspected at the Offices of the Board. 



Mr. Stevens states that the excessively dry spring of 1907, which was followed by 

 a rainless spell during the early summer with only light occasional rainfalls while the 

 cereal crops were in growth, resulted in the harvest season in the Trans-Caucasus 

 being much postponed. Generally speaking, the production and yield is far below 

 average in quantity and quality throughout almost all the provinces included in the 

 district of this Consulate, and the situation thereby created for the population is most 

 distressing. In many parts of the country, state aid will again have to be given to 

 enable the peasant classes to tide over the winter, and seed for sowing purposes will 

 have to be widely distributed to farmers. 



Roumania. — In a despatch to the Foreign Office, dated 30th October last, Sir C. 

 Greene states that the agricultural outlook in Roumania is very unsatisfactory. There 

 has been a most severe drought, which has lasted in some districts for as much as six 

 months, and has prevented any general attempt to begin the autumn sowings. The 

 vast plains of Wallachia, which are, as a rule, an expanse of green, are absolutely 

 brown and burnt to the consistency of brick. At the end of October, in some parts 

 no attempt had - been made to plough, and the appearance of the land showed that 

 the soil must be baked hard for a considerable depth. Sir C. Greene adds that if rain 

 does not very soon fall, the whole of next year's spring crops will be a failure. 



Bulgaria. — H.M. Vice-Consul at Sofia (Mr. G. O'B. Toulmin) reports with 

 regard to the agricultural outlook in Bulgaria that a too severe winter, followed by a 

 period of abnormal drought, caused the spring crops of 1907 to be a failure, with the 

 exception of rye which was fairly good. Maize, plentifully sown to replace ploughed- 

 up crops, has suffered from the excessive dryness of the summer and present 

 autumn. For the same reason there will be a considerable shortage in the wheat 

 crop, though the quality of the grain is said to be good. Forage is so scarce that it 

 is doubtful whether the peasants will be able to keep sufficient cattle through the 

 coming winter to do the spring ploughing ; while, owing to the hard and dry state of 

 the soil, no colza seed could be sown this autumn. The harvest of 1907, therefore, 

 promises to be but a very moderate one, and will doubtless tend to diminish the 

 import trade of the year. The French Journal Officiel (nth November, 1907), states 

 that the yield of wheat has been officially estimated at 37,100,000 bushels. 



