256 



Reports on Foreign Crops. 



It will be observed that the exports fluctuate considerably 

 and cannot be said to bear any general relation to the size 

 of the crop. This is largely due to variations in the local 

 demand (1895-6 and 1896-7 were years of famine), and partly 

 to the discouraging prices ruling in British markets. It is 

 however, worthy of notice that the largest export, viz.,^ 

 7,072,000 quarters, occurred in 1891-92, when the average 

 price of British wheat was 37s. per quarter, and the value of 

 imported Indian wheat about 36s. per quarter. 



Crops in Russia. 



According to the Trade and Industries Gazette, the condi- 

 tion of winter-sown grains in August last varied considerably 

 in parts of European Russia. Winter wheat was expected 

 to furnish about an average yield. In the territory east of 

 the Volga the crop was more or less indifferent ; in the 

 central and west central governments a moderate yield was 

 looked for ; but in the governments of the south and south- 

 west the prospects were more promising. Spring wheat 

 presented generally a more favourable aspect, and a good 

 yield was expected in most of the governments of the v/est 

 and south-west. Rye appears to have suffered materially 

 from unfavourable weather in May and June, and the crop 

 is stated to be on the whole under average, and in some 

 districts a complete failure. 



The Board have received through the Foreign Office a 

 report from Her Majesty's Consul-General at Warsaw on the 

 condition of the crops in Russian Poland and Lithuania. At 

 the date of the report, August 27th, the harvest was over and 

 nearly all the grain had been carried. Some trial threshings 

 had given satisfactory results, and it was estimated that rye 

 would furnish about an average yield and that wheat would 

 yield about ten per cent, more than the average. Beetroot 

 had suffered greatly from insects in the Government of Lublin, 

 much having to be resown. Hop plantations had also 

 suffered from the cold, wet, and stormy weather early in July, 

 so that the crop was expected to be even worse than that of 

 last year, and hop growers expected a rise in prices. 



