1909.] Notes from Foreign Office Reports. 229 



creased, but the number of small farmers has increased by about 

 48,000 since 1906, while the large estates are less in number by 230. 



Agriculture in Hungary. — The Report for 1907-8 on the commerce 

 of Hungary (F.O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4,212) states that the 

 Government, through the Minister of Agriculture, is doing a great 

 work for the assistance of agriculture throughout the country, especially 

 in its great establishments for breeding horses, cattle, and pigs, which 

 are stated to be almost unique of their kind in Europe. But apart from 

 horses and cattle, agriculture generally may be said to be making 

 considerable progress. It is becoming at once more intensive and more 

 scientific, and the attention paid to by-products is of value in helping 

 the farmers over bad years. 



The harvest shows an increase on that of last year as far as wheat 

 and rye are concerned, but a falling off in barley, oats, maize, and 

 potatoes. The falling off in the last-named was considerable, and has 

 now continued for two years. 



There was a large increase in the number of cattle in Hungary in 

 1908 over 1907, the figures being 6,446,000 in 1908, against 5,953,000 in 

 1907, an increase of 8J per cent. 



Other animals- -horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, sheep, and goats — all 

 show a considerable increase, the figures for pigs showing an increase 

 of 10 per cent., and sheep an increase of 4! per cent. As regards 

 cattle, the increase is especially in the line of dairy cattle rather than of 

 beasts for slaughtering. The breed most sought for apparently for 

 dairy purposes is the Rotscheckige, in which the increase amounted to 

 286,588 head. 



Export of Flour from Hungary. — The above Report states that the 

 falling off in the flour export was particularly noticeable and caused 

 considerable anxiety in Hungary, where milling is one of the largest 

 interests. The mills have for many months been working short time, 

 and this state of things will certainly continue until well into the 

 summer of 1909 at any rate. The decrease in 1908 as compared with 

 1907 amounted to about 2,400,000 cwts. There was also a heavy 

 falling off in the exports of meal and bran. 



The export flour trade shows a falling off of 40 per cent, as regards 

 foreign countries outside the Austro-Hungarian Union ; there was a 

 decrease of 70 per cent, for the Netherlands, of about 50 per cent, for 

 the United Kingdom and France, and 15 per cent, for Brazil. The 

 decrease for Austria amounts to about 15 per cent. The decrease in 

 value of this trade amounts for countries outside the Austro-Hungarian 

 customs -union to about ^333,332, and for Austria to ^624,999, while 

 the reduction in the value of exported meal and bran amounts to about 

 ^416,666. Taken all together, the reduction in exported flour products 

 may be valued at about 374,997. 



Beans from Manchuria. — The report for 1908 on the trade of New- 

 chwang (F.O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4,191) states that a new 

 venture has been the export of beans during the winter of 1908-9 from 

 Tairen to the United Kingdom, to be used as food for cattle. Hitherto 

 experimental shipments of beans from Newchwang have failed, as the 

 beans fermented on the way. This might have been due to the beans 

 having got wet coming down the river, either accidentally or on pur- 

 pose, so as to increase the weight. The beans in Tairen, on the other 



