March 1895.] 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



297 





Area. 



Production. 



Average per Acre. 





Acres. 



Bushels. 



Bushels. 



Wheat 



2,712,339 



46,698,905 



17-22 



Rye - 



4,819,943 



82,249,447 



17-06 



Barley 



2,805,697 



58,632,832 



20-90 



O.'its - 



4,641,154 



106,134,875 



22-86 



Maize - - - 



805,669 



13,435,977 



16-68 



Swedish Harvest of 1894. 



The Board have received from the Swedish Ministry of the 

 Interior a copy of the official estimate of last year's crops in that 

 country. 



The method of collecting the produce statistics 'in Sweden 

 is as follows : — Since 1865 the provincial agricultural societies 

 have published returns which are obtained directly from 

 the farmers, and which contain, inter alia, the quantity of 

 seed employed as well as of the crop obtained. These returns, 

 however, are not published until one year or more after the 

 harvest to which they relate. For this reason a system was 

 adopted in 1874 by which the crop estimates are obtained 

 immediately after harvest. The yield is estimated on the 

 following principle : — the quantity of seed sown in each district 

 being ascertained through the local agricultural societies, this 

 quantity is multiplied by the number of times by which the 

 seed is estimated to have increased in producing the crop. 

 From the result thus obtained, combined with the reports of 

 the provincial prefects, an estimate is made of the total crop. 



The crops of 1894 are in this manner found to have been 

 almost above the average." The yield of the most important 

 cereals, with the exception of rye, was heavier than in the 

 preceding years. The potato crop was, however, much below 

 the average, and was besides of bad quality in many districts. 

 The yield of hay and straw exceeded the amount required for 

 home consumption. 



The following table shows the estimated crop results of 1894 : — 





Estimated Crop, 



Average 



of Crops, 





1894. 



1884 



-93. 



Crop. 











Hectolitres. 



Bushels. 



Hectolitres. 



Bushels. 



Wheat 



1,574,200 



4,329,000 



1,425,000 



3,919,000 



Rye 



6,694,700 



18,410,000 



7,810,600 



21,480,000 



Barley - . _ 



5,201,400 



14,304,000 



5,167,000 



14,210,000 



Oats - - - 



24,638,800 



67,757,000 



20,836,300 



57,300,000 



Mixed -wheat 



3,399,300 



9,348,000 



2,740,500 



7,536,000 



Peas - - - 



537,100 



1,477,000 



562,800 



1,548,000 



Beans . . - 



79,200 



218,000 



82,500 



227,000 



Vetches - 



282,800 



778,000 



259,800 



714,000 



Potatoes - 



15,888,600 



43,694,000 



19,118,000 



52,575,000 



