594 Report on Crop Prospects in September, [oct., 



Scotland, where the weather appears to have been much less broken 

 and even favourable. Wheat has somewhat fallen off, particularly in 

 the east and south; elsewhere it has on the whole about maintained, 

 or even a little improved its promise. Barley quite maintains its high 

 position of a month ago, and is now decidedly the corn crop of the. 

 year. Oats are regarded as having somewhat improved, although still 

 not a good crop, except in Scotland, where they seem over average. 



Potatoes have decidedly fallen off during the month, owing to the 

 general spread of disease, which is very prevalent; and growers are 

 now looking for a fairly abundant yield at best instead of the very 

 heavy crops which appeared probable earlier in the season. Roots 

 have improved during the month, and promise to be much above 

 average, although a general lack of sunshine is reported to have been 

 a drawback, particularly in the case of mangolds. 



In England a plentiful growth of grass is generally reported, and 

 second cuts of clover have mostly been good; in Scotland, both grass 

 and second cuts seem rather less satisfactory. 



Reports as to apples and pears vary somewhat; generally the crop 

 would appear to be moderate, and the fruit is of small size. Plums 

 are stated to be light. The fruit crop seems generally better in the 

 northern districts. 



Hop-picking is sufficiently advanced to allow of a closer estimate of 

 the production than has hitherto been possible. Generally, the yield 

 is bad, except where constant washing has been carried out ; in Kent 

 frequent mention is made of 6 cwt. or more as a probable average per 

 acre, though many localities will show less than this ; while in the 

 west much poorer yields are indicated. 



Labour is generally reported as sufficient for requirements ; though 

 harvesting has, of course, proved a troublesome and expensive opera- 

 tion in the south and east. 



Summarising the reports, and representing an average yield by 100, 

 the appearance of the crops in mid-September indicated yields for Great 

 Britain which may be represented by the following percentages : — 

 Wheat, 104 ; barley, 105 ; oats, 98 ; potatoes, 102 ; roots, 105 ; hay 

 and grass, 95. 



Hop Crop. — In Kent the estimators agree that the crop is coming 

 down even lighter in bulk than anticipated. In the Weald one estimator 

 describes the crop as the shortest since 1882 ; over a considerable area 

 7 cwt. per acre is mentioned as a probable average by another; the 

 quality, however, is good. In East Kent, again, 7 cwt. is about the 

 yield expected over one large district. Hops are especially bad where 

 they have not been continually washed. In the Mid-Kent area reports 

 range in different parishes from 1 to 15 or 16 cwt. per acre; while 

 another estimator, after allowing for the area unpicked, states that 

 the yield in his district cannot be more than 6 cwt. per acre. In Surrey 

 such growers as have almost continually washed have, to a considerable 

 extent, saved their crop, but at great cost; those who did not wash 

 have almost a total failure. The Farnham district will probably return 

 about 5 cwt. per acre, but reports from the different parishes vary very 

 considerably. As regards Sussex, the bine is generally very poor and 

 the hops backward and seriously affected by wet and cold. Where 



