1905.] Notes as to Foreign Crop Prospects. 217 



France. — The French Ministry of Agriculture published on 

 the 20th June last their estimate of the area and condition of 

 Notes as to tne P r i nc ip a l corn crops based on reports 

 Foreign Crop made on May 15th. The area under each 

 Prospects. cr0 p - ls gj ven as f 0 n 0 ws : — 



1905. 1904, 



Acres. Acres. 



Wheat 16,049,000 16,149,000 



Mixed corn 373,000 391,000 



Rye 3,136,000 3,206,000 



Barley 1,785,000 1,741,000 



Oats 9,41^,000 9,471,000 



Rather more than one-half of the wheat crop is returned as 

 'good" and the remainder as " fairly good." The condition of 

 the bulk of the barley crop is regarded as " good," and this is 

 also the case with about 60 per cent, of the oat area. 



Germany. — The condition of the crops in Germany in the 

 middle of June, according to the official reports, was, with the 

 exception of clover, equal to, or in some cases rather above, the 

 average at the same time during the past twelve years. In 

 many districts the winter-sown crops, especially rye, have 

 suffered from frost, dryness, weeds, &c, but generally they have 

 developed satisfactorily, and promise a fairly good crop. The 

 condition of the crops is indicated numerically (2 = good, 

 3 = average) as follows : — Winter wheat, 2*3 ; spring wheat, 2*5 ; 

 winter and summer rye, 2*3 and 2*5 ; spring barley, 2*5 ; oats, 

 2'6 ; and potatoes, 2*5. 



With regard to potatoes, it is stated that late sowing, cold 

 and drought and occasionally defective seed, have caused this 

 crop to come up irregularly ; it is hoped, however, that the 

 advent of warmer and moister weather will soon cause an 

 improvement, as at the time of the report potatoes were only 

 in the first stage of their growth. 



Hungary. — The yield of wheat in Hungary (excluding 

 Croatia and Slavonia) is semi-officially estimated on the basis 

 of the returns published by the Ministry of Agriculture at 

 156 million bushels as against 137 million bushels last year and 

 162 million bushels in 1903. The prospects of the corn crops 

 generally are regarded as satisfactory. 



Spain. — A considerable deficiency in the wheat crop is 



