4i8 



Crop Information. 



[august, 



to have been secured in better order than meadow hay, a fine fortnight 

 during July in the more northern districts having been particularly 

 opportune. 



Hops have not maintained their promise of a month ago, the depre- 

 ciation being - most marked in Kent. The cold weather checked 

 growth, and washing has become more general. The present promise 

 is for a crop slightly over average. 



Crops of orchard fruit are reported short everywhere. 



The supply of labour is, as a rule, quite equal to the demand, but 

 in a few districts a scarcity of men for temporary labour is mentioned. 



Cattle and sheep are generally progressing well, though the latter 

 have felt the effects of the wet and cold season, more particularly in 

 some eastern and south-eastern counties. Warmer weather would be 

 welcome for the stock. Pastures are reported full of keep. 



Summarising the reports, and representing an average crop by 

 100, the appearance of the crops on the ist August indicates yields 

 for Great Britain as a whole, which may be represented by the follow- 

 ing percentages: — Wheat, 101 ; Barley, 102; Oats, 99; Beans, 102; 

 Peas, 100; Potatoes, 106; Mangold, 102; "Seeds" Hay, 105; Meadow 

 Hay, 105 ; Hops, 102. 



The Bulletin of Agricultural Statistics, published by the Institute, 

 gives from month to month such information as is available as to the 



Crop Information area and condition of the cro P s in different 



nblished b the countries of the world, but it has not been 



v . A . . found possible up to the present to reduce the 



International . .. " , . , , ^ 



. data furnished by the different countries to a 



Agricultural Institute. uniform basiS) and thus enable a summary t0 



be given indicative of the world's crop. 



According, however, to the Bulletin for July, the Institute will, in 

 future, use every endeavour to establish monthly, for each product 

 included in the Statistical Service of the Institute, an average condition 

 figure for the total crop of all adhering countries — or at least for the 

 majority of such — and to present comparisons with the previous month 

 or with the same month of the previous year. 



The Institute will also endeavour to publish, shortly before the time 

 of harvest, an approximate estimate of the probable total production of 

 all the adhering countries ; and immediately after the harvest, an 

 approximate statement of the total yield. A comparison of these figures 

 with the total area cultivated will give the probable or actual average 

 yield per unit of area for all adhering countries, which will serve as a 

 basis for useful comparisons with preceding years. 



It is remarked that if the Institute succeeds in executing this pro- 

 gramme, the " Bulletin of Agricultural Statistics," will become a useful 

 and valuable publication, and will greatly contribute to the elimination 

 of that uncertainty which prevails on the different world's markets as 

 to the probable supply of agricultural products, and will aid in the 

 suppression of the resulting fluctuations in prices; thus furthering 

 materially the interests of both producers and consumers. 



The same issue of the Bulletin contains a Calendar showing the 1 

 periods of sowing and harvesting wheat in different countries. 



