I 10 



Reports on Foreign Crops. 



considerable trouble. Better weather set in later, and th e 

 crops derived much benefit therefrom. 



Improvement was recorded during the month in the case 

 of winter corn, but the condition of the rye was not so good 

 as at the same date last year. It had suffered more than 

 wheat from field-mice, although considerable tracts under the 

 latter grain have had to be ploughed under owing to attacks 

 by these rodents. The condition of both wheat and rye was 

 returned as between middling and good. The sowing of 

 spring corn had been greatly hindered by wet ; in many 

 places it had not been completed, and a small proportion only 

 of the young plants were showing above ground. 



A considerable amount of land under clover had been 

 damaged by field-mice; as much as 28 per cent, of the 

 clover area having been ploughed under from this cause 

 in the district of Breslau, and 18 per cent, in the kingdom of 

 Saxony, while many other districts had also suffered severely. 

 Better weather had, however, improved the prospects of this 

 crop, which were reported as middling to good. Grass, in 

 hill regions, had come on well, and promised a good cut ;. 

 that in the neighbourhood of watercourses had often suffered 

 from inundations, and was generally backward. The pros- 

 pects in May were, however, distinctly better than in April. 



Crops in Roumania. 



Reports received through the Foreign office indicate that, 

 owing to the prolonged drought which has prevailed in 

 Roumania, the condition of the crops, except in a few localities, 

 left much to be desired. Advices from most of the wheat- 

 growing districts gave very unfavourable descriptions of 

 the crops, and in some districts the wheat had been 

 ploughed up and maize planted in its stead. A certain 

 quantity of rain had fallen lately, but insufficient for the 

 requirements of the growing plants. 



Generally speaking, it might be said that in Northern 

 Moldavia and in the districts lying between Turn Severin 

 and Slatina the prospects of the harvest were fair, whereas 

 in the other parts of the country only poor returns could at 

 best be expected. 



