Wheat  Prices  and  the  World’s  Production. 
107 
by  locust  pests.  Australia  suffers  from  drought,  which  recently 
produced  the  following  remarkable  results  : — 
Imports  of  wheat  from  Australia. 
1902  . . . 2,072,766  cwt. 
1903  ....  30  „ 
India  is  no  less  uncertain  on  account  of  weather  con- 
ditions. She  exports  only  that  part  of  her  crop  which  is  left 
over  after  satisfying  the  needs  of  her  immense  population, 
and  these  exports  are  scarcely  less  variable  than  in  the  case 
of  Australia  : — 
Imports  of  wheat  from  India. 
1899  . . . 8,192,200  cwt. 
1900  ....  9,400  „ 
The  Canadian  harvest  too,  is  uncertain  as  regards  quality 
because  of  the  short  summer  and  quickly  ripening  grain.  It 
is  for  this  reason,  peculiarly  susceptible  to  rust  and  other 
diseases,  for  a quickly  ripened  fruit  is  rarely  very  hardy.  But 
with  a number  of  supplies  in  different  parts  of  the  world, 
it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  all  will  fail  in  any  one  year. 
Indeed  it  is  probable  that  bad  weather  in  one  part  of  the  world 
must  be  compensated  by  good  weather  in  other  parts.  To 
use  a simile  put  forward  by  a recent  writer  on  this  subject, 
the  world’s  wheat  producing  countries  are  no  longer  a team  with 
only  one  crack  batsman  ; but  are  like  a good  all  round  team 
in  which  some  members  are  sure  to  come  off  in  every  match. 
Corresponding  with  this  steadying  of  the  yield  of  wheat, 
is  a levelling  of  the  price  between  one  year  and  another.  It 
can  no  longer  be  said  that  any  one  source  is  predominant, 
for  a world  market  is  growing  up,  to  which  supplies  come 
in  at  different  seasons  from  many  parts  of  the  world.  This 
is  illustrated  by  the  following  table,  giving  the  date  of 
harvesting  of  the  loading  wheat  crops  of  the  world. 
Dates  op  Harvests  in  Different  Countries. 
January 
February 
March 
April 
May 
June 
July 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December 
Australia,  New  Zealand,  Argentine,  Chili. 
India. 
India,  Upper  Egypt. 
Mexico,  Cuba,  Lower  Egypt,  Syi’ia,  Persia,  Asia  Minor. 
North  Africa,  China,  Japan,  and  Southern  United  States  of  America. 
Mediterranean  and  Southern  France,  Central  and  Eastern  United 
States  of  America  South  of  40®. 
France,  Austria,  Hungary,  Southern  Russia,  Northern  United 
States  of  America,  Ontario,  and  Quebec. 
England,  Belgium,  Netherlands  and  Germany,  East  Canada. 
Scotland,  Sweden,  Norway,  Russia. 
Finland  and  Northern  Russia. 
Peru,  South  Africa. 
Burma,  South  Australia. 
