528 



Reports on Foreign C::ops. 



The Spanish Wheat Harvest. 



The Spanish Department of Customs has recently pub- 

 lished a report upon the wheat harvest of that country 

 during the years 1896 and 1897. The figures referring to 

 these two years are compared with the quinquennium 

 1890-94, and serve as a basis for an estimate of the probable 

 importation from abroad during the present year. Accord- 

 ing- to this statement, it appears that the production of the 

 Peninsula amounted to 8,704,000 qrs. in 1896, and to 10,743,000 

 qrs. in 1897, while the average crop for the period 1890-94 

 was 10,395,000 qrs., or 348,000 qrs. less than that of the past 

 year. It is believed, however, that the results for the five 

 years just referred to were under-estimated, and that the 

 average production of the period was about 11,458,000 qrs. 

 The superiority of the harvest of 1897 over that of 1896, 

 and the fact that the importation from abroad in the 

 cereal year ending 31st August, 1897, amounted to 917,000 

 qrs., make it probable that until the next harvest only 

 the wheat required for the manufacture of flour for export 

 will be imported. The average monthly importation to the 

 end of August was 78,000 qrs., whilst since September, when 

 the effects of the new crop began to be felt, the monthly 

 import has fallen to 9,000 qrs., although the exports of flour 

 have sensibly increased. 



Wheat Harvest of New South Wales. 



The official estimate of the wheat harx est in New South 

 Wales in 1897-98 places the actual area sown to wheat at 

 1,191,309 acres. Of this it is estimated that the area har- 

 vested for grain was 938,251 acres, giving a total yield of 

 9,745,000 bushels, or an average of about io| bushels per acre 

 cut. The area cut for hay, viz., 253,058 acres, was very large. 

 Of the total yield of grain, it is estimated that about 7,900,000 

 bushels will be required for consumption during 1898, and 

 1,500,000 bushels for seed, so that it would appear that not 

 only has the colony produced sufficient for its own require- 



