.Sept. 1896.] 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



145 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 

 Crops in the United States. 



The latest reports of the Statistician of the Department of 

 Agriculture of the United States furnish the following par- 

 ticulars as to the condition of crops ,in that country. The 

 preliminary returns of the acreage under wheat indicated an 

 area under this crop equivalent to 101 "7 per cent, of the acreage 

 harvested in 1895, or 34,619,000 acres this year as compared 

 with 34,047,000 acres, an increase of about 570,000 acres. The 

 average condition of spring wheat on August 1st was 78*9. The 

 August average is 17*0 per cent, below the same period of last 

 year, when it was 95*9, while in 1894 it was 67*1. 



The acreage planted with maize is returned as 98'7 per cent, of 

 the area similarly planted last year, which was 82,000,000 acres, 

 this being a decrease of a little over 1,000,000 acres, and 

 making the area planted this season 81,000,000 acres. On August 

 1st the average condition of the crop was reported to be 96. 



The average condition of oats in August was 77*3. Last 

 year the condition of the crop at the same date was 84*5. The 

 preliminary returns indicated the acreage of oats to be 98*8 of 

 last years area, or 27,543,000 acres as compared with 27,878,000 

 acres in 1895. 



On August 1st the average condition of barley stood at 82*9, 

 a decline of 5*2 points since the previous month. The barley 

 acreage was returned in June at 89-9 per cent, of the area under 

 the crop in 1895, or 2,967,000 acres as compared with 3,300,000 

 acres last year. 



The average condition of potatoes on August 1st was 94*8, a 

 decline of 4*2 points from the previous month. In August 

 1895 the condition of potatoes stood at 87'7, and in the same 

 month of 1894 at 74. 



As regards cotton, the general average condition of the crop 

 on August 1st was 80*1. With the exception of last year, when 

 the average condition in this month was 77*9, this is the worst 

 August average condition for the past 15 years, even that of 

 1893 being slightly higher at 80*4. It is stated that the 

 heavy rains in July damaged the crop, especially in Virginia, 

 North and South Carolina, Florida, and some portions of 

 Georgia. 



The crop over almost the entire cotton belt is maturing 

 rapidly and is earlier than for many years, partly from premature 

 ripening and partly from early planting. The 1 area planted 

 with cotton amounted to 23,460,000 acres compared with 

 20,191,000 acres last year. 



