Sept. 1895.] 



KEPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 



155 



Mr. H. Grant, Her Majesty's Consul-General at Warsaw, 

 writing on August Ist as to the harvest prospects in the king- 

 dom of Poland, stated that it seemed certam that the Polish 

 harvest this year would be a very poor one. 



The winter corn had suffered considerably by the excessive falls 

 of snow, and matters were made worse by the lateness of the 

 spring thaws, which did not begin until the end of March. The 

 almost uninterrupted drought which had prevailed ever since 

 had further contributed to the deterioration of the standing 

 crops, and the spring crops had also suffered very much from 

 the drought. 



In the western governments the harvest began as early as 

 the end of June, but no particulais were known as to the 

 results. 



Beetroots and potatoes had suffei-ed greatly from the prolonged 

 drought, and poor yields were anticipated. 



Crops in Austria. 



Quoting from the official reports of the Austrian Ministry of 

 Agriculture for the middle of July, the Wiener Landwirtsckaft- 

 licke Zeitimg states that the weather had continued fairly 

 favourable to the growth of the crops. Excess of rain, which 

 had prevailed in certain districts, had, however, nowhere done 

 much damage ; the only districts to suffer being those subjected 

 to drought, which particularly affected the north-west. 



The season had been particularly favourable to rye. Very 

 little complaint was heard as to lodging, rust, or ergot ; on the 

 contrary, reports spoke generally of tall strong straw, and long 

 well-filled ears with heavy grain. A satisfactory harvest was 

 therefore to be expected. 



The wheat harvest promised to be better than the rye, 

 and appearances were more favourable than immediately after 

 the winter. The crop was generally heavy, but had in many 

 cases been much laid (especially in Galicia). There were com- 

 plaints of smut in some localities ; various insect pests had also 

 appeared in the north. 



Winter barley in the southern districts was for the most 

 pait harvested in fair condition. Spring barley and oats varied 

 very much in condition. In districts which had suffered from 

 drought the btraw was short an 1 weeds were abundant, par- 

 ticularly charlock. In north-west Bohemia, the barley in places 

 had not germinated. On the whole, except in Carniola, the 

 outlook for the two cereals referred to was satisfactory, the 

 barley being better than the oats. There was a certain amount 

 of smut, and field-mice had done some damage in north-west 

 Bohemia, where there had been much drought. 



Maize was promising except in the neighbourhood of Trieste, 

 where it was bad. 



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