524 



Reports on Foreign Crops. 



about the average ; and in Bombay, the Central Provinces, 

 and Haidarabad, much below the average. 



Crops in Russia. 

 The Central Statistical Committee have published in the 

 Viestnik Financov an estimate of the produce of the principal 

 cereals in the seventy-one governments and provinces of 

 Russia in 1897. These yields, together with the estimates 

 of production for the corresponding territories in 1896, are 

 as follows : — 



1897. 1896. 



Quarters. Quarters. 



Rye . .. 76,099,000 ... 91,828,000 



Wheat 42,388,000 ... 51,344,000 



Oats 60,161,000 ... 81,778,000 



Barley 28,549,000 .. 30,341,000 



It would appear from these figures that the Russian wheat 

 crop of 1 897 was nearly 9,000,000 quarters below that of the 

 preceding year, while the other three cereals show a total de- 

 ficiency as compared with 1896 of 39,000,000 quarters. 



The Argentine Harvest of 1897-98. 



In his report to the Foreign Office on the trade of the 

 Rosario district in 1897, Mr. Vice-Consul Mallet in speaking 

 of the present harvest states that the wheat and linseed crops 

 have been harvested, and threshing is well under way, with 

 the result that the belief is confirmed that the present wheat 

 crop will be an average one as regards quantity. The grain 

 is said to be of fair quality. These remarks refer more 

 especially to the crops of Santa Fe, the chief grain-producing 

 district of the Republic. Cereal growing has also latterly been 

 largely developed in the southern parts of the neighbouring 

 province of Cordoba, and the crops of that district, which 

 are chiefly shipped from Rosario, are said to be on the whole 

 superior to those of the first-named province, and also 

 abundant. The heavy rains experienced during the 

 harvesting are believed, however, to have caused some 

 damage to the grain generally. 



It is exceedingly difficult to estimate the amount of wheat 

 to be exported during 1898 on account of the diversity of 

 opinion on this subject. Mr. Mallet states that information 



