302 REPOHTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. [Dec 1895. 



REPORTS ON FOREIGN CROPS. 

 Crops in the United States. 



The October report of the Statistician of the Department of 

 Agriculture of the United States contains the preliminary- 

 estimates of the results of the past harvest in that country. 

 The returns as to the yield of wheat are stated to have indicated 

 an averiige production of 12*5 bushels per acre as compared 

 with 13-1 last year, 11-3 in 1893, 18-0 in 1892, and 15-3 in 

 1891. The estimated area under this crop as reported by the 

 statistician in June last appears to have been 33,870,000 acres, 

 so that a yield of 12*5 bushels would represent a total pro- 

 duction of 423,375,000 Winchester bushels as compared with 

 460,267,000 bushels last year. The yield per acre is reported 

 to- have ranged from 7'5 bushels in Kansas to 20*0 in Oregon. 



The yield of maize is returned in the November report at 

 26"2 bushels per acre, as compared with 19*7 bushels last year. 



The average yield per acre of oats as reported in October was 

 29*6 bushels per acre on an estimated area of 27,888,000 acres. 

 These figures would indicate a total yield of 825,485,000 Win- 

 chester bushels as compared with a production of 662,037,000 

 in 1894. The average yield per acre of oats in the five years 

 1890 to 1894 was 24-2 iDushels. 



The average yield of rye is reported to^ have been 14*4 bushels 

 per acre on 1,880,602 acres, making a total production of 

 27,080,000 Winchester bushels as against 26,727,000 bushels in 

 the previous year, 



According to the June report of the Statistician, the area 

 sown with barley was about 3,297,000 acres. The yield per 

 acre is stated in the October report to have been 26-4 bushels, 

 so that the total production of this cereal works out to 87,041,000 

 Winchester bushels. Indhe previous year a crop of 61,400,000 

 bushels was obtained from an area of 3,170,000 acres. 



The condition of the potato crop on October 1 was reported to 

 be 87'4 as compared, with 64*3 on the same date last year. The 

 total yield last year was 170,787,000 Winchester bushels, or 62*3 

 bushels per acre. Drought is stated to have been the most wide- 

 spread cause of reduced condition, while rot had also damaged 

 the crop in a few States. Low prices are said to be the chief 

 complaints of the potato growers this season, particularly in the 

 North- West. In Minnesota this year's yield of potatoes is said 

 to be enormous, on an average three times as great as last 

 year. 



The yield of hops is returned at 80-9 per cent, of a full crop. 

 The quality is reported to have been very good, except in 

 Washington, where lice and mould had done material damage. 



As regards apples, the continued drought, hot weather, and 

 high winds of September caused premature ripening and 



