1910.] Notes on Agriculture Abroad. 



767 



of horsebreeding by the nomination of military officers to journey 

 through the interior for the purchase of suitable remounts for the 

 army. The national animal is very small, though wiry, and various 

 breeds are recommended for its improvement, such as the Shire, 

 Percheron, Hackney, and Arab. The Percheron has been imported 

 to a fair extent, but attention now appears to be turning to the Arab. 



Mule breeding is a profitable industry, and some very excellent 

 ones are bred for riding purposes, whilst there is always a market in 

 Minas for pack mules at slightly lower prices, but still profitable to the 

 breeder. (F.O. Repts., Annual Series, No. 4575). 



Consumption of Fertilisers in, Sweden. — There are considerable 

 imports of artificial manures into Sweden, and it is possible that the 

 demand for fertilisers may extend in view of the increasing activity 

 which is at present being manifested in Swedish agriculture. The 

 possibility of increased imports is of some interest to British exporters, 

 for though Sweden is mainly dependent upon Germany for fertilisers, 

 a certain amount is furnished by the United Kingdom. The most 

 important items are basic slag and superphosphate, of which 11,668 

 tons and 3,808 tons respectively were exported to Sweden in 1908. 

 The total imports into Sweden in 1908 of basic slag and raw phos- 

 phate were approximately 23,607 tons and 95,986 tons. 



The Swedish trade journal (Affarsvarlden) of September 15th, in 

 an article on the subject of the importation of manures, a copy of 

 which has been forwarded to the Board by H.M. Consul at Stock- 

 holm (Mr. Villiers), urges the need for increasing the country's own 

 production of fertilisers. It is stated that Sweden could produce 

 enough phosphate and Thomas slag to supply the agricultural need for 

 some time to come, and possesses in her waterfalls the means of 

 obtaining nitrogen from the air, i.e., by the manufacture of nitrate 

 of lime and similar products. As regards potash, it is entirely depen- 

 dent on Germany. 



Decline in Wool Production in Russia. — The British Acting Consul- 

 General at Odessa (Mr. H. E. Dickie) has furnished the following 

 particulars relative to the decline in the production of wool in European 

 Russia : — 



The gradual transfer of immense tracts of pasture land to peasant 

 farmers and their division into small holdings, a process greatly 

 assisted by the advances made by the Peasants' Bank, has had the 

 effect of steadily diminishing the number of sheep in European Russia, 

 a result which any possible increase of the flocks in Siberia can hardly 

 counterbalance. Another consequence of this development has been 

 the gradual falling off in the quantity of Russian produced wool, 

 which is only to a small extent counteracted by the breeding of a 

 breed of sheep which, taken individually, produces a larger quantity 

 of wool than the usual breed. Some slight decrease in the quantity 

 of wool produced is to be recorded for 19 10, and if its dirty condition, 

 as compared with the preceding year, is taken into consideration, this 

 result will be all the more significant. The quality of the wool is 

 considered to be fairly good, and there was not any appreciable loss 

 of sheep during the winter of 1909-10. (Board of Trade Journal, 

 September 15th, 1910.) 



Consumption of Fertilisers in Poland. — A report by H.M. Consul 



