260 



Notes on Crop Prospects Abroad. [June, 



winter and spring frosts, and more often than rye gives indications 

 inclining to less than average yield. The sowing of spring grain was 

 delayed somewhat in most regions, though accomplished under favour- 

 able conditions, but here also the influence of the drought is feared. 



An extract from the Torgovo-Promyshlennaya Gazeta of May 7th, 

 forwarded by H.M. Consul-General at Odessa (Mr. C. S. Smith), states 

 that the winter crops have hibernated well, so that little resowing will 

 be necessary. As a rule the weather has favoured the preparation of 

 the fields for the spring crops, which, in the southern parts, begin to 

 show well. In most cases the need of rain is becoming urgent. 

 Showers appear to have been only local. 



Germany. — The report of the Imperial Statistical Bureau gives the 

 conditions of the crops at the beginning of June as follows : — Winter 

 wheat, 2*5; spring wheat, 2'6; winter spelt, 2*5; winter rye, 2*7 ; spring 

 rye, 2*5; barley, 2*4; oats, 2'6; potatoes 2*6; (2 = good, 3 = average). 

 The condition of autumn-sown cereals, although on the whole fairly 

 good, varied greatly in different parts of the country, the plants being 

 well forward in some districts, but leaving much to be desired in 

 other districts. 



Austria. — The Austrian Ministry of Agriculture estimates the condi- 

 tion of the crops in the middle of May as follows : — Wheat, 2*5 ; rye, 

 3*1 ; barley, 2*3; oats, 2*4; maize, 2*1; and potatoes, 2*2; the condition 

 of each crop, except potatoes, being less favourable than at the corre- 

 sponding date in 19 10 (2 = above average, 3 = average, 4 = below average). 

 Wheat had improved since the previous month's report, but rye had 

 suffered more than wheat from the drought. The development of 

 barley and oats is fairly good. 



Fruit Crop in Austria. — The fruit crop has been very favourably 

 influenced by the fine weather which followed the April frosts. In the 

 southern districts the blossoming was completed by the end of April, 

 but in the northern districts this was only the case with stone fruit. 

 Damage is reported only in districts where the crop is of little import- 

 ance. (Statistische Nachrichten, May 9th, 191 1.) 



Roumania. — A dispatch from H.M. Consul at Bucharest (Mr. Errol 

 MacDonell), dated May 10th, states that spring sowings were delayed by 

 adverse weather during the first half of April, and in many parts barley 

 and oats were only sown late in the month. At the date of the dispatch, 

 however, the spring sowings of early April were already showing above 

 ground. Autumn-sown rye and ; oats were generally good, though they 

 did not grow much until the latter half of April. Autumn sowings in 

 Mehedintz and Gorj and in the higher lands were not so good, and in 

 the most northern districts the crops were affected by the heavy fall of 

 late snow. 



Canada. — According to the report of the Canadian Census and Statis- 

 tics Office the condition of winter wheat in the Dominion at the end 

 of April was 82 per cent, of the normal (81 per cent, in Ontario and 

 89 per cent, in Alberta). The area reported to be killed during the 

 winter is 21 per cent. The seeding and growing season for the whole 

 of Canada opened late this year, and the month of April was marked 

 by hard frosts. May has been favourable to the cultivation of the 

 land, however, and the rainfall has been sufficient for healthy vegeta- 

 tion. Spring sowings were well advanced in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, 



