March 1897.] 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



389 



crop, and tho price received by farmers for this year's production 

 is stated to have given them, on the whole, as much money as 

 was realised from last year's immense harvest. The oat crop in 

 many parts of the province has been disappointing ; the yield 

 was smaller than usual owing to rust or blight, and the grain is 

 reported to have been of inferior quality in many districts. The 

 yield of oats and barley is returned at 28"25 and 24*80 bushels per 

 acre in 1896, against 46*73 bushels and 36*69 bushels in 1895. 



The low price obtained for dairy products in 1895, and the 

 possibility of another immense wheat crop, served for the time 

 to check any special development of the dairy industry in 

 Manitoba. 



The area of land prepared for seeding was 969,000 acres^ 

 which is much in excess of the figures for the same date last 

 year, and is said to promise a large acreage in wheat for 1897. 



Victorian Wheat Harvest. 



According to an account of the wheat harvest in Victoria 

 given in The Australasian, it appears probable that Victoria 

 will again suffer from a deficiency. The area under cultiva- 

 tion is estimated to be 1,493,500 acres, and the yield is expected 

 to amount to 6,904,000 bushels, or an average of less than 

 4f bushels per acre. Estimating the population in 1897 at 

 1,180,000, and the average consumption at 5 bushels per head, 

 the food requirements will amount to 5,900,000 bushels, and 

 the demand for seed for next year's crop amounts to 1,125,000 

 bushels, or a total requirement of 7,025,000 bushels. These 

 figures consequently show a deficit of 121,000 bushels, against 

 which there is probably a certain quantity of old wheat and 

 flour in stock. 



The Melbourne Weekly Times, however, says, speaking gene- 

 rally, that in no previous season have the crops given such 

 irregular returns, and it is almost impossible to estimate 

 correctly what the average yield will be. Though in some 

 districts, such as the Central Wimmera, for instance, the crops 

 have been very poor, yet in others they have turned out re- 

 markably well, and are yielding much above the ordinary 

 average. This is more particularly the case in the later districts, 

 where the acreage under cereals has been greater than usual 

 this season. Hay crops have been heavy in all but the dry 

 northern and north western districts, and, owing to favourable 

 weather, have been secured in prime condition. 



