1905.] Notes on Foreign Crop Prospects. 



4i7 



damp and cold northern climate, but the following method of re- 

 newing irregular and overgrown hedges has proved successful : — 



"If the fence is ultimately required to be 4 ft. high, the hedge 

 would be cut clean across to a height of under 3 ft., any supple 

 shoots being tied down to cover as many gaps as possible. This 

 should be done with No. 18 galvanised wire, but care should be 

 taken to tie down the shoots loosely, so as to allow for growth. 

 As the hedge is only cut to a little under 3 ft., it is not necessary 

 to keep the roots of the hedge clean otherwise than by cutting 

 the long weeds that might grow up through the naked hedge. 

 In this state the hedge would be left for three years, when it 

 would be switched up, leaving the top shoots. These shoots 

 would be thinned to the required distance, and laid down and 

 tied horizontally across the top of the hedge to cover all blanks. 

 If this single process did not suffice to make a close fence, 

 the hedge could be allowed to grow for the necessary time 

 and the operation repeated. The hedge after laying would be 

 perfectly close, and could be kept trimmed every year or every 

 second year according to taste. 



" The fences referred to above are on arable land under rota- 

 tion and grazed for two or three years. As the lands are in crop 

 for five or six years, the operation referred to is commenced 

 when the grass is broken up, and by the time the land comes 

 into pasture again the operation ought to be finished, leaving a 

 suitable fence for stock. It is not, therefore, necessary to protect 

 the hedge against stock during the process of renewal." 



France. — The approximate results of the harvest of wheat, rye, 



and mixed corn for 1905 were published by the Ministry of 



Agriculture in the Journal Officiel of the 



Notes on September. The crop of wheat is 



Foreign Crop . \ 0 V , 1 



Prospects. estimated at 328,314,687 bushels on an 



area of 15,976,321 acres, an average of 20J 

 bushels per acre. The comparative figures for 1904 showed 

 that 16,126,378 acres produced 289,590,331 bushels; in 1903 a 

 total yield of 353,060,208 bushels was obtained from 16,002,458 

 acres. The average wheat production for the ten years 1895-96 

 to 1904-05 has been 318,076,495 bushels, and the net im- 

 portation 15,663,007 bushels, giving an average consumption 



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