692 



Crop Prospects Abroad. 



[FEB., 



The weather during January was characterised by an unusual variety of conditions. 

 During the first week (ending Saturday the 4th) it was dull at first, with occasional 

 snow showers in the north and locally at several places 

 Notes Oil the further south. Later on a decided improvement took 



+i» * t place, the amount of bright sunshine recorded over 



Weather in January. England on the three last days being exceedingly large 



for the time of year. Temperature was, of course, below 

 the average, being " deficient" or " very deficient " throughout the United Kingdom. 

 Rainfall was "very light'' everywhere except in Scotland E., where it was "light," 

 while except in Scotland and England N.E. it was " abundant " or " very abundant." 

 During the second week the conditions were mostly reversed. The warmth continued 

 to be "deficient" everywhere except in Scotland E., but rainfall, with the single 

 exception of England N.W., was "heavy." Sunshine was generally " moderate," 

 but " abundant " in England N.E., N.W., S. and S.W. At Heathfield in Sussex, 

 the amount of rain for the 24 hours ended 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning was 

 2" 06 in., and the depth of snow still lying was 8 in. During the third week 

 an entirely different set of conditions prevailed. Temperature, after being very low 

 in most parts of Great Britain, rose suddenly to a high figure for the time of year, and 

 finally fell again to about the normal. The rainfall in the eastern section of the 

 Kingdom was, as a rule, " light" or "very light"; in the western section " heavy," 

 except in England S.W. Bright sunshine was above the average, the excess being 

 large in some places. During the fourth week, over a large portion of Great Britain, 

 the weather was dry and occasionally very bright, but a considerable part of the. time 

 was either misty or foggy, especially in the centre, south-east and east of England. 

 Warmth was " deficient " throughout England, the maximum during the middle of 

 the week throughout the central counties of England not being much above freezing 

 point. Rainfall was " very light" nearly everywhere, but on more than one occasion 

 a measurable quantity of water was yielded by the wet fog or mist. Bright sunshine 

 varied greatly in the different districts. 



With such a variety of changes taking place it is not surprising that no phenological 

 observations were transmitted to the Board. 



World's Wheat Crop. — The Hungarian Minister of Agriculture has issued his final 

 estimate of the world's wheat crop of 1907, in which he puts the yield at 

 849,070,000 metric quintals (390,040,000 qrs. of 

 Notes On Crop ^-)> as compared with 925,410,000 quintals 



(425,110,000 qrs.) in 1906. A revised estimate of the 



PrOSpeCtS Abroad. cropj w hi c h is given in Beerbohm's Com Trade List 

 (24th January), amounts to 394,275,000 qrs., as against 

 441,080,000 qrs. in 1906, while in Dombuscti 's List (31st January) it is estimated at 

 395,150,000 qrs. (by measure) as against 432,880,000 qrs. in 1906. (See Journal , 

 September, 1907, p. 373.) 



India. — The first General Memorandum on the Indian wheat crop [Indian Trade 

 Journal, 26th December, 1907) of the season 1907-08 states that the season has been 

 extremely unfavourable owing to the untimely cessation of the rains. This had the 

 effect of restricting and delaying sowings, so that it has been difficult to obtain returns 

 of acreage, and also induced the substitution of food grains for local consumption. 

 As a result, the total area under wheat in British territory is now returned at 

 15,477,600 acres, as compared with 23,583,600 acres in 1906-07. This marks a 

 contraction of 8,106,000 acres, or 34*4 per cent. ; but it will be noted that, as 

 regards the United Provinces, which usually bear some 27 per cent, of the total 

 wheat crop, there is some reason to hope that the estimate may prove to be too low. 

 The Native States in Bombay are alone in reporting an increase, but the Sind Native 

 States show a decline of some 12,000 acres. 



