Reports on Foreign Crops. 



403 



1897 in the 63 governments referred to above were as 

 follows: Rye, 69,855,790 qrs. ; wheat, winter and spring, 

 35,294,717 qrs.; oats, 58,563,019 qrs.; barley, 25,605,601 qrs. 



The later official estimate issued by the Central Statistical 

 Committee of the Ministry of Finance gave the results of the 

 harvest of 1897 in the same 63 governments as follows: 

 Rye, 72,741,680 qrs. ; wheat, winter and spring, 35,669,240 

 qrs. ; oats, 60,896,830 qrs. ; barley, 27,567,690 qrs. 



Crops in Argentina. 

 According to the reports published in La Agricultural up 

 to the middle of November last, the approaching harvest in 

 Argentina is expected to furnish a good crop of wheat, and 

 the yield is likely to exceed that of last year in the provinces 

 w^here this grain is chiefly grown. Locusts had made their 

 appearance here and there, but there were few complaints of 

 injury from these insects. In some districts the crops had 

 been injured by hail storms, but the damage from this cause 

 was apparently confined to a comparatively limited area. 

 In Santa Fe the wheat fields were reported in November to 

 present an excellent appearance, and to promise an excep- 

 tional crop both as regards quality and quantity ; in th^ 

 province of Cordoba, where some anxiety had been experienced 

 on account of drought, timely rains had fallen, and wheat was 

 in excellent condition ; in Entre Rios a better yield was 

 expected than that secured in 1 897-98, and in Buenos Ayres 

 there were prospects of an abundant wheat harvest. 



The French Harvest of 1898. 



The estimates of the yield of the cereal crops issued by 

 the French Ministry of Agriculture showed the wheat harvest 

 of 1898 to be the largest recorded since 1874, and more than 

 fifteen million quarters over that of last year. In the 

 following table the production of the current year is com- 



]^ B 2 



