1908.] 



Miscellaneous Notes. 



693 



Altogether the tracts from which estimates of area have not been received usually 

 represent some 15 per cent, of the entire wheat acreage. 



From all sides it is reported that, as regards the rate of yield from the area sown, 

 everything depends on the timely arrival of sufficient winter rains. 



Russia. — Mr. Consul Woodhouse, writing on 30th December, observes, with 

 regard to the autumn sowings, that the winter rye is stated to be in an unsatisfactory 

 condition, the wheat poor, and the area sown less than usual. The same unfavourable 

 climatic conditions prevailing at the close of the past harvest season, which proved so 

 detrimental to the crops in the south-western provinces, continued unaltered through- 

 out the sowing period. The unusually intense and prolonged drought that set in 

 towards the end of July was severely felt in the black soil zone that extends from the 

 western frontier to the Volga. Even in the south, night frosts occurred early in 

 September. Although a little rain did fall towards the middle of September, the 

 weather became milder for a very short time only, and the sudden changes in the 

 temperature that continually occurred acted detrimentally on the sowings, which in 

 some cases had already sprouted. On the other hand, over nearly all the northern 

 lands the autumn was remarkable for the prevalence of mild, warm weather, accom- 

 panied by abundant showers. The winter set in towards the beginning of November. 

 In the north, the frosts were preceded by a timely fall of snow that acted as a mantle 

 to the winter corn, already germinated and progressing favourably. The importance 

 of this covering of snow cannot be over-estimated. In the south, where many districts 

 were visited by unseasonably early and intense cold, without any fall of snow, the 

 outlook is again poor. 



On the whole, therefore, the result of the abnormal meteorological conditions is 

 a marked contrast in the state of the winter sowings in the southern loam belt and in 

 the less fertile northern fields ; the latter, and less important as regards area, 

 productiveness and population, being at least at this stage more advanced and 

 favoured than the former. 



A despatch from Mr. Consul Medhurst, dated 1 5th January, states that the latest 

 official reports from the Don Cossack district show that the winter sowings have 

 suffered severely from the dry autumn and severe early frosts. From the Kuban 

 districts in the North Caucasus, similar unfavourable reports have likewise been 

 received, and it is feared that the greater part of the important grain area in the North 

 Caucasus has suffered from the same causes, and that the amount of grain available 

 for export from these districts in 1908 will be lessened. 



Germany. — The Imperial Statistical Bureau give the yield of winter wheat in 1907 

 as 2,613,826 tons (of 2,204 lb.) as against 3,570,807 tons in 1906. Part of the 

 deficiency was made up by a larger crop of spring wheat which is returned at 

 865,498 tons as compared with 368,756 tons last year. The yield of potatoes was 

 45,538,299 tons, about 7,400,000 tons less than last year, but the proportion diseased 

 is stated to be 6*4 per cent. 



Inspection of Ordnance Survey Maps. — Copies of Ordnance Maps on the 6-inch 

 and smaller scales, containing the latest information, are available for public inspection, 

 without charge, at the Office of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Fisheries, 3, St. James's Square, London, 



Miscellaneous Notes. s w Copies of the latest pu bii s hed editions of the 



Ordnance Maps on the 25-inch scale are also available 

 for inspection, provided that four clear days' notice is given, stating the sheets required, 

 and a fee of 6d. is paid. 



The Ordnance Survey Maps are copyright, and no information contained therein 

 may be published without permission, nor are tracings or extracts allowed to be made 

 by persons inspecting them. Copies of Ordnance Maps containing the latest 

 corrections of the boundaries of administrative areas may be obtained from the Board 

 on application, the price of the map and the cost of preparation being charged to the 

 purchaser. 



