THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol. IV. No. 3. DECEMBER, 1897. 



THE GRAIN HARVEST OF 1897. 



The Board of Agriculture issued at the beginning of 

 December the annual preliminary statement showing the 

 estimated total yield of the wheat, barley, and oat crops of 

 Great Britain for the current year. The returns published 

 in August last indicated that the wheat crop of 1897 was 

 grown on a surface greater by 11J per cent, than the wheat 

 area of 1896. The official estimates of the yield now avail- 

 able show, however, the results of the harvest to have been 

 slightly under a ten years' average, so that the total outturn 

 is less by some 267,000 quarters than that of the previous 

 year. Stated in bushels, the wheat harvests of the past 

 two years are contrasted in the following table, in which 

 the last column shows the average of the decennial period 

 1887-96 :— 



Wheat. 



Estimated Total 

 Produce. 



Estimated Yield 

 per Acre. 



Average 

 of the 

 Ten 





1897. 



.1896. 



1897. 



1896. 



Years 

 1887-96. 





Bushels, 



Bushels. 



Bushels. 



Bushels. 



Bushels. 



England 



51,697,650 



54,523,269 



28-98 



33-88 



29-52 



Wales - 



1,332,192 



1,078,090 



24 76 



22-95 



| 23-35 



Scotland 



1,883,388 



1,451,593 



37^3 



38-47 



35^4 



Great Britain 



54,913,230 



57,052,952 



29-09 



33-68 



29-49 



T 



