1910.] Notes on Agriculture Abroad. 



501 



machinery is superior to the German, but comparing weight with 

 weight or size with size (since the denomination of the sets varies) 

 the customers pay for the German sets about 5 per cent, more than for 

 the British, simply because of the easier terms of payment. In fact, 

 competition in steam threshing machines has become largely a question 

 of finance. 



Opening for Agricultural Seeds in Poland. — H.M. Consul at 

 Warsaw (Mr. C, Clive Bayley) reports that a Polish agricultural 

 ''Notes on syndicate desire to obtain the representation of 



Agriculture British firms exporting the following agri- 



Abroatt cultural seeds : — beet, carrot, turnip, wurzel, 



maize (horse tooth), oats, barley, field and 

 meadow grasses, lucernes. An agency for garden, vegetable, or flower 

 seeds is not required. The syndicate would be glad to have catalogues 

 and price lists. 



Communications in this connection should be addressed to the British 

 Consulate, Warsaw. 



Budget of the French Ministry of Agriculture. — The total amount 

 voted in the Budget of the French Ministry for the year 19 10 was 

 ^1,986,347, or an increase of .£55,387 over the amount in 1909. The 

 main items are : 



Salary of Minister and staff ... ... ... ... 46,440 



Grants in aid of farmers and subventions to agriculture 121,600 

 Bounties given for the cultivation of — 



Silkworms ... ... ... ... ... ... 2co,ooo 



Hemp ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 91,000 



Indemnities for the destruction of diseased animals ... 60,000 



Stud Farms 273,371 



Encouragement of horse breeding ... ... ... 53,040 



Preservation of forests, dunes, watercourses and hill land 190, 140 



The principal increases are ^8,000 for indemnities for the destruc- 

 tion of diseased animals, and £6,000 for stud farms. (F.O. Report, 

 Annual Series, No. 4478.) 



Damage by the "Nun" Moth in Germany. — About the middle of 

 August, 1909, immense swarms of an insect known as the " Nun " moth 

 (Ocneria Monacha) made their appearance in various parts of East 

 and West Prussia. As a result of the ravages of this moth in its 

 caterpillar stage, when it attacks the pine trees, and to prevent the 

 extension of the damage, whole tracts of forests had to be cut down, 

 and it is feared that the process will have to be continued for some 

 considerable time to come. (F.O. Reports, Annual Series, No. 4477.) 



Drawback on Oats Exported from Germany. — There has of late 

 years been a steadily increasing export of oats to the United Kingdom 

 and other countries, and a good deal of attention is being directed to 

 the operation of the Zollgutschein system. Under this system shippers 

 of grain obtain, for every ton which they export, a certificate entitling 

 them to a drawback, or customs credit, to the value of anything that 

 they may subsequently import. That is to say, if they export a ton 

 of goods on which the import duty is 40 marks, they receive a credit 

 note by which they are entitled to import goods to that value. The 

 original intention of the Government was that the Zollgutschein should 

 be only applied to the case of imports and exports of the same kind, 

 e -g., that exporting corn would only entitle a shipper to import the 



