l 7 & [July, I 9° 2 -] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 91. 
AGRICULTURAL RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — The copious rains which fell throughout the first 
three weeks of June — making a total of seven weeks’ continuous wet 
weather — do not appear to have had any serious ill effect on the crops. The 
spell of fine weather at the end of last month fortunately arrived in time to 
save the hay, and a very bulky crop has now been carted and stacked in 
good condition. The hot sunshine speedily caused the ears of wheat 
to emerge, and barley and oats, which had had sufficient rain, were greatly 
benefited by the warmth of the sun’s rays. Weeds seem to be exceptionally 
plentiful this season, especially on wheat land. Turnips and swedes are 
making capital growth, and the heavy rains have washed off the vermin by 
which they were infested. Mangels, too, are growing satisfactorily, and, with 
the abundance of feed in the pastures, graziers’ prospects have much 
improved. The gold medal of the British Dairy Farmers’ Association has 
been awarded by the council of that body to Lord Rothschild, Tring 
Park, Herts, for the business-like character of his farms and the exceptionally 
high dairy qualities of his several breeds of cattle ; also to Dr. Watney, 
Buckhold, Pangbourne, in recognition of his valuable work in developing the 
butter-making qualities of Jersey cows. A good idea of what may be done 
in breeding and selecting cows for their milking capabilities is offered by 
the milk records of a few first-rate breeds. In the short period of thirteen 
years Lord Rothschild, at Tring Park, has bought, bred, and reared three 
herds which it would be difficult to surpass for milking qualities. In the 
twelve months ending with September last, 36 shorthorn cows, which 
had been in the herd the whole year, averaged a yield of 640 gallons 
each. One cow gave 113^ gallons, a second, 946; a third, 921; and a 
fourth, 897. Forty-three red polled cows averaged 673 gallons, one 
having yielded 1,156 gallons, and two others over 1,000 gallons each. 
Thirty-one Jerseys averaged 618 gallons, the highest yield of an individual 
cow reaching 1,029 gallons, which is very remarkable for a Jersey, while a 
second gave 958 gallons. The cow that gave the greatest yield, Sultana XIV., 
was thirteen years old in May, 1901, and had produced her twelfth calf. Five 
other cows in the herd had had nine to twelve calves. Dr. Watney, of 
Buckhold, Berks, also shows remarkable milking records, with astonishing 
butter production, for his admirable Jerseys. Including heifers, his average 
in 1901 was over 600 gallons of milk for 40 animals, and in the preceding 
year it was nearly 606 gallons. More striking still are the butter records. 
One cow, Red Maple, produced last year 550 lb. of butter, while three 
gave over 500 lb. each, twelve over 400 lb., and the whole 40,394 lb., as 
their average. In the preceding year, Lavanja gave 569 lb. of butter, and 
39 cows averaged 376 lb. In 1899, Mariatt’s Lass produced 544 lb., and 
the average of 32 cows was 398^ lb. Mr. Hanbury has given great satisfac- 
tion to dairy farmers in this country and in the Colonies by his reply to 
the deputation from the chambers of agriculture received by him recently, on 
the subject of milk-blended butter. He not only admitted that this 
sophisticated commodity ought not to be sold as butter, and that legislation 
to regulate its sale needed to be carried through Parliament this year, but 
also stated that a Bill had been drafted, embodying the restrictions which 
appeared desirable, and that it was his intention to use his influence with his 
colleagues in the Government in favour of pushing the Bill forward. The 
last of the great country meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society begins 
on the 5th inst, the place selected being Carlisle. The entries are very 
satisfactory, and, given fine weather, a large number of visitors, from both 
sides of the Border, may be anticipated. 
Colonies.' — A revised return of the wheat crop of New South Wales, 
issued by the Government statistician, shows a great decrease as compared 
with the preliminary estimate. Early last December it was reckoned that 
1,470,000 acres would be reaped for grain, and that the yield would be 
18,768,690 bushels. Now the area is put at 1,387,434 acres, and the 
production at 14,705,733 bushels, or io'6 bushels per acre. Even this 
reduced quantity, however, is greater than the crop of any previous year, 
excepting that of 1 900-1, which was over 16,000,000 bushels. The surplus 
ls put at 6,056,000 bushels, of which 1,000,000 are supposed to be unfit for 
export, and only fit for consumption by live stock. From the agricultural 
returns of South Australia for 190 1-2, it appears that the total area of 
wheat sown was only 1,743,452 acres, or 169,795 acres less than in the 
preceding season. Of this area, 1,415,658 acres were cut for grain, showing 
a falling off of 158,559 from the reaped area of 1 900-1. The yield is 
estimated at 8,012,762 bushels, or only 5'6 6 bushels per acre, a miserable 
crop that cannot possibly pay expenses. Last season the yield averaged 
7*15 bushels per acre, which was bad enough. Yet there are settlers 
venturesome enough to sow wheat beyond Goyder’s line of rainfall, where the 
yield last harvest was only 37 bushels per acre. The long series of droughty 
seasons in Australia clearly show the necessity for the new Commonwealth to 
take up the question of drought prevention or that of the best remedies. 
Drought seems to be as common in Australia as in India, and even more 
destructive in proportion, owing to the fact that all animal and vegetable 
products in Australia are affected by the same season, whereas harvesting in 
India is spread over many periods of the year. Consequently, artesian wells 
and systems of irrigation are needed as much in Australia as in India. The 
subject of deep wells, water storage, and irrigation, is one of the greatest 
importance, and demands the serious attention of Australian statesmen. 
India. — The annual report on tea culture in Assam for the year 1901 
shows a desirable decrease in the production, due to planters having at last 
realised the necessity of putting an end to the over-production of the last few 
years, and of turning out a better quality of tea. The total area of tea gardens is 
returned at 1,049,018 acres, being a decrease for the year of 11,069 acres. 
The number of persons permanently employed decreased from 468,326 to 
451,005, while the number temporarily employed increased from 35,324 to 
37,862. The out-turn of tea was 134,896,317 lb. against 141,118,644 lb. in 
1900, a decrease of 6,222,327. The average prices per pound of tea in 
Calcutta were, for Surma valley teas 4 as. 7 p. per lb., and for Brahmaputra 
valley tea 6 as, 1 p. per lb. These average figures show a slight improvement 
compared with 1900. 
Foreign Countries. — Prospects for the wheat crop in the principal 
producing countries have generally improved, reports from France, Austria- 
Hungary, Italy, and Russia indicate satisfactory development as having taken 
place during the past fortnight, and the outlook in Roumania and Bulgaria 
has become better since the wet period ended. In the United States the 
weather has been favourable of late, and the prospects of the winter and 
spring crops are said to have improved ; and in Argentina it is expected that 
the area of the wheat crop will be expanded. 
The importance of the English market to the stock breeders of 
Argentina is clearly indicated in the decline in the shipments of live 
cattle and sheep from the River Plate since the closing of the British 
ports two years ago. In the first quarter of 1900, when the British ports 
were still open, the shipments of live cattle from Argentina numbered 
58,752 head. With our ports closed this total fell to 27,932 in the first 
quarter of 1901, and has again declined by one-half to 13,177 in the opening 
quarter of the present year. Simultaneously there has been a much greater 
falling-off in the number of live sheep exported. Thus, from 175,280 sheep 
exported on the hoof in the first three months of 1900, there was a decline 
to 8,322 in the same period of 190T, whilst in the opening quarter of 1902 
the number was still as low as 8,982. In other words, the trade was reduced 
almost to extinction last year, and there has yet been but little recovery. 
The time is no doubt approaching when it will be safe to re-open our 
ports to live animals from Argentina, and a determined effort will then be 
made by the breeders in the valley of the Plate to recover the lost trade. 
The enormous decrease in the shipments of live sheep has found no 
compensation in any substantial increase in the exports of frozen mutton, 
for, though these rose from 13,115 tons in the first three months of 1900 to 
16,985 tons in the same period of 1901, there is a decline of 2,869 tons 
to only 14,116 tons in the opening quarter of the present year. With 
frozen beef the case is very different ; for the first three months of the 
years named the exports have expanded from 3,539 tons in 1900 to 
8,271 tons in 1901, and to 11,831 tons in 1902. The trade in jerked 
beef (lasajo), which is practically all with adjacent South American countries, 
has experienced a marked revival, the 7,693 tons shipped in the first three 
months of this year being more than treble the corresponding quantity last 
year. A heavy increase is to be noted under the head of wool, the export 
of which over the first three months of this year is nearly double the 
corresponding quantity two years ago. The export butter trade appears 
now to be established on a permanent basis. The shipment for the first 
three months of the present year falls not far short of a thousand tons 
(2,137,568 lb.), and is almost twice the corresponding quantity a year ago 
(1,1:33,588 lb.). The expansion of this trade needs to be carefully watched 
by Australasian butter makers, to whom the Argentine dairy farmers may 
in time become strong rivals upon the British markets. Australasia and 
Argentina being both south of the equator their butter seasons are the 
same, whilst the latter is only half as far from England as the former. The 
exports of 201,837 tons of wheat and 33,676 tons of maize this year are 
only one-third of the corresponding quantities in 1900, and considerably 
less than those in 1901. The shipments of linseed, on the other hand, are 
well maintained, the first quarter’s total of 246,129 tons differing to the 
extent of only 340 tons from the corresponding total last year. 

LABOUR RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — No noteworthy change has taken place in labour 
conditions during the past month. The decision of Lord James, who was 
called in to arbitrate on the subject of the wages in the Midland coal trade, 
was a foregone conclusion, and the 10 per cent, reduction will come into 
operation at once. In the cotton industry the number of looms idle shows 
no decrease, and the outlook is no better. An improvement is slowly but 
surely taking place in iron-mining, in the pig-iron industry, and in the tin- 
plate trade. In iron and steel manufacture, the engineering and metal trades, 
as also in the shipbuilding trades, employment continues to decline. Some 
interesting comparisons of the conditions of the iron and steel industries of 
the United Kingdom with those of the United States has been brought to 
light, through the evidence submitted before the Industrial Commission by 
the leading men in the industry. Among such questions, the Iron and Coal 
Trades' Review calls attention to one that has been much discussed through 
late years, namely, that of the average rate of wages paid in certain depart- 
ments of the American industry relatively to our own. It is difficult to 
reach a satisfactory conclusion on this complex matter, in view of the fluctuations 
that are found to prevail, not only in different localities, but also at different 
works in the same locality. But one of the most recent and valuable pieces 
of statistical evidence on this matter is a statement of the personnel of the 
Federal Steel Company, and of the average remuneration which it was 
receiving at two different dates in the course of the recent boom. From this 
statement it would appear that of the total personnel in August, 1899, 1*4 per 
cent, were engaged at headquarters as clerks, etc., nearly 3 per cent, were 
engaged in general superintendence, 34 per cent, were skilled labourers at 
works, and 45 per cent, were unskilled labourers, while the remainder were 
miners and coke workers. A very important economic feature brought out 
by this statement is that skilled labour was paid about 50 per cent, more 
wages than unskilled, which may be taken as typical of the conditions that 
