Reports on Foreign Crops. 



103 



Crops in Italy. 



In the Rivista Meteor ico- A gr aria of nth May last, 

 published by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, it is stated 

 that the wheat crop in Italy was in a satisfactory condition at 

 the end of April, and that spring-sown crops were doing well. 

 In northern and central Italy heavy rains had retarded 

 farming operations, but no serious damage had been done. 



The Belgian Harvest of 1897. 



From data furnished by the Provincial Agricultural Com- 

 missions of Belgium it appears that the harvest of 1897 was less 

 than that of 1896, though the quality of the crops was good. 

 Oats, which have been more extensively cultivated through- 

 out the various provinces than heretofore, is the only cereal 

 showing an increase in yield. It is estimated that about 

 1,360,700 acres were devoted to the cultivation of the two prin- 

 cipal cereals, viz., wheat and rye, the yield of which is 

 approximately stated at 33,000,000 bushels, a deficiency of 

 about 8,175,000 bushels on the preceding harvest. The yield 

 of wheat is put at 27 bushels per acre as compared with 30 

 bushels in 1896, and of rye at 26 bushels as against aboat 

 3of bushels ; the deficit of these cereals which it will be 

 necessary to import is estimated at about 16,000,000 bushels. 

 The yield of potatoes averaged about 5f tons per acre, or 

 about the same as in 1896, but much less than the two pre- 

 ceding years. The quality of the potatoes throughout the 

 Kingdom is said to have been good. 



The Roumanian Harvest of 1897. 



The Roumanian Ministry of Agriculture has lecently 

 issued statistics of the results of the past year's har\ejt, from 

 which it appears that the loss of cultivated area owing to the 

 floods of the spring and summer of 1897 amounted to 8*51 per 

 cent. The following table shows the acreage and production 



