596 



Notes on Crop Prospects Abroad. [ocf., 



brought to market hitherto extremely variable. Grass and keep of all 

 sorts most abundant." Another from the same district writes: "The 

 past month has been very unfavourable for harvest work, for although 

 a considerable quantity of corn has been got together it has been 

 stacked in bad condition. There is still a large proportion of oats and 

 some barley in the fields at the present time, and great damage has 

 been done to these crops. Plums plentiful but damaged by rain. Apples 

 about half a crop, and many falling from the trees through wet weather. 

 Potatoes diseased: otherwise would yield well." A correspondent in 

 Kent writes : " Owing to rain almost every day the finish of the harvest 

 was constantly delayed, especially in the case of oats. Some corn is 

 still in the fields. Hop-picking was constantly delayed, but the crop 

 was fairly good where well cared for, but bad where neglected. Man- 

 golds, swedes, and turnips are good crops. x\pples are unusually 

 small and colour is lacking. Fruit generally has less flavour than usual. 

 Damsons good crop. Pears fair." A correspondent writing from 

 Midlothian reports a very similar state of things, with the addition that 

 the sparrows have caused great depredations. 



Germany.— The Imperial Statistical Bureau estimates the numerical 

 condition of the potato crop in the middle of September as 2*5, compared 

 with 2'3 in August, and 2'6 in September, 1908 

 Notes on Crop and 1907. It is stated that the crop, which 



Prospects Abroad. was then being harvested, is not altogether 

 satisfactory. The haulm had commonly died 

 down too early, and this, in conjunction with leaf disease, hindered the 

 ripening of the tubers, which in many cases have remained small, and 

 have suffered nearly everywhere from wet weather. 



Austria. — According to the official Austrian crop report for the middle 

 of September, the harvest of the winter cereals was then practically 

 finished. Wheat is medium to good, barley mostly good, and oats good. 

 Maize is expected to give a barely medium to average crop at the best. 



France. — In the Journal Officiel of September 28th, the French 

 Ministry of Agriculture gives the area of wheat sown as 16,229,000 acres, 

 compared with 16,214,000 in 1908. The production is put at 345,554,000 

 bushels, compared with 307,944,000 bushels in 1908. 



Norway. — A report issued by the Minister of Agriculture, based on 

 reports up to the beginning of September, states that, owing to cold 

 weather and constant rain, the harvest prospects are in certain districts 

 unfavourable. 



Canada. — The report of the Census and Statistics Bureau for Sep- 

 tember gives the percentage condition of the crops on August 31st as 

 follows : — Spring wheat, 84*30 ; oats, 84*89 ; barley, 83*54 ' an ^ pasture, 

 76*24. 



For the whole of Canada the production of wheat is estimated at 

 168,386,000 bushels, or 21*73 bushels per acre, compared with 124,690,000 

 bushels in 1908. Oats, with an average yield of 38*15 bushels, gives an 

 aggregate of 354,919,000 bushels, and barley, with an average of 30*55 

 bushels, gives an aggregate of 56,975,000 bushels. At the same date 

 last year the estimate was 269,944,000 bushels for oats, and 49,488,000 

 bushels for barley. 



