264 [October, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
Vol. VIII. No. 94. 
planted this year at 716,000 acres. It is estimated that the yield will be from 
90 to 94 per cent, of a normal crop. 
Foreign Countries. — The tomato-growing and canning industry 
continues to make great strides in the United States. Over the five years 
1897 to 1901 Maryland packed an annual average of 1,840,000 cases ; 
Indiana, 697,200; New Jersey, 685,400; California, 473,200; Delaware, 
360,000 ; and Ohio, 190,200. A case holds 24 cans, each containing 3 lb., 
so that a case represents 72 lb. of tomatoes. One bushel of tomatoes will fill 
14 cans, whence it follows that each case demands nearly if bushels. When 
the figures denoting the production of the different States over a series of 
years are looked into, a very great variation in the bulk of the crop from year 
to year conies into view. Indiana, for example, which packed 1,020,000 
cases in 1898, turned out no more than 420,000 in 1901. With the cereal 
crops of that State the quantity of rainfall during the growing season is the 
main factor in determining the size of the crop. Rainfall is of the utmost 
importance also in determining the yield of tomatoes, but, in addition to this, 
a late spring or an early frost in the autumn may diminish the crop to the 
extent of fully one-half. The crop is also liable to fungus diseases, which 
are more apt to result in serious damage when several tomato crops are 
grown in succession upon the same land. In raising tomatoes for canning 
the grower’s first object is to obtain a large yield. Early maturity is of second 
importance, as he contracts to sell the whole crop at a fixed price. This 
circumstance has to be considered in selecting the variety of tomato to be 
raised, the soil, and the kind of manurial dressing. In Indiana the usual 
practice is for the canneries to furnish the plants, so that the grower has only 
to concern himself with the selection of the soil, the manuring, the cultivation, 
and the harvesting. For tomatoes for canning a much heavier soil and one 
of greater natural fertility may be employed than is recommended for the 
tomatoes for the early market. Though it is rather more difficult to cultivate 
tomatoes on heavier lands, it is the experience of catsup makers that on such 
lands a tomato of superior quality is produced, in that the relative quantity of 
pulp in the tomato is increased. To obtain heavy yields it is essential that 
strong land be used or heavy manuring resorted to. The crop for the 
cannery is one for which a relatively low price is obtained, and hence the cost 
of manuring has to be carefully considered. The tomato plant is a gross 
feeder, and requires an abundant supply of potash. It has been estimated 
that ten tons of fruit with the accompanying vines would contain 57 lb. of 
nitrogen, 16 lb. of phosphoric acid, and 94 lb. of potash. Results of 
experiments made at the Indiana agricultural experiment station show that on 
plots wffiich received artificial manures there was not only a great increase of 
yield, but many more tomatoes ripened early in the season, a matter of 
considerable moment in years when early frost occurs. There appears to be 
a field for the profitable use of commercial fertilizers in tomato growing on 
lands such as have been used. The formula given for compounding the 
fertilizer includes muriate (chloride) of potash. Some experiments on early 
tomatoes apparently indicate that the sulphate of potash gives tomatoes of 
better quality. If, therefore, it is desired to secure better quality as well as 
increased yield, it would probably be preferable to supply the potash in the 
form of sulphate. All properly made tobacco manures contain the potash as 
sulphate, and the tobacco and tomato plants are closely allied botanically. 
It may seem difficult to believe that a country like Russia takes the lead 
amongst civilised nations in the provisions she makes for the effective study of 
the problems of agricultural meteorology, but such is the case. The system of 
agricultural-meteorological institutions was established by the Russian 
Meteorological Bureau so recently as 1897. The object sought is 
to bring observations on meteorology and on agricultural phenomena into 
closer relation, with a view to determining more definitely the effect of 
various meteorological conditions on crop production. At each station there 
are plots not exceeding 27 acres in area, and on these plots various crops are 
grown. The meteorological apparatus for measuring the temperature and the 
humidity of the air, the intensity of the sunlight, the direction and velocity of 
the wind, and other factors in the weather, are arranged adjacent to the plots. 
On the last-named are fixed up a rain gauge, thermometers for determining 
the temperature of the soil at the surface and at different depths, and also 
apparatus for ascertaining the humidity of the soil, and measuring the snow- 
fall. Phenological observations are made regularly on the crops under 
cultivation, and a record is kept of the different stages in the development of 
the plant, of the work done on the plots, of any injuries caused by 
meteorological or other factors, and of the yields of grain and straw. The 
stations differ in their equipment, and are divided into two classes accordingly. 
Those in the second class have only the more common apparatus, and 
consequently their investigations are of a less extensive character. Last year 
there were 66 of these agricultural-meteorological stations, 21 being of the 
first class, and 45 of the second, together with 113 ‘‘observation plots,” 90 of 
which were equipped with apparatus for studying soil moisture as well as the 
atmospheric conditions. In addition to its work in agricultural meteorology, 
the bureau is elaborating plans for weather forecasting, and it also publishes 
papers on technical subjects, such as the relation of the cereal crops to sun- 
spots and meteorological factors. If nothing more is done than to work out 
satisfactory methods and a basis for correlating the meteorological and soil 
conditions with the production of staple crops, the results will be of wide- 
spread importance, and will pave the way for similar studies elsewhere. This 
Russian enterprise has attracted the attention of the Washington Department 
of Agriculture, and it is quite possible that similar work will ere long be in 
progress in the United States. 
LABOUR RETROSPECT. 
United Kingdom. — The industrial situation did not improve last month, 
and again compared unfavourably with a year ago, the percentage of unemployed 
being a little over four and a-half. This is better, however, than affairs on the 
Continent, where the percentage of unemployed varies from 6 per cent, in 
Germany to 9 per cent, in Austria. The position of the coal trade is, 
perhaps, made a little easier, owing to the good demand for export due to the 
American coal strike. In Scotland a further reduction of 6^ per cent, took 
place in miners’ wages, leaving the daily wage at 5s, 6d, In the engineering 
trade a satisfactory arrangement has been arrived at regarding the bonus 
system. A memorandum has been mutually agreed to between the workmen’s 
executive, on the one hand, and the employers’ executive on the other, as 
follows: — (1) The time rate of wages for each job should, in all cases, be 
paid; (2) Overtime and night-shift to be paid on the same conditions as 
already prevail in each workshop ; (3) A time limit, after it has been 
established, should only be changed if the method or means of manufacture 
are changed ; (4) No firm should establish the bonus system without intending 
to adhere to it. All restrictions to the working of the bonus system in 
federated workshops should now be at an end. 
Some further particulars have been published regarding the Commission 
of Enquiry into the relations between labour and capital in the United 
States. Mr. Mosely directs the attention of the members of his commission 
to the fact that the increase in manufactured exports of the United States has 
(comparing figures for 1889 and 1898) been accompanied with an increase of 
some 44 per cent, in the number of manufacturing establishments, of 51 per 
cent, in the capital employed, of 42 per cent, in the cost of the materials used, 
and of 39 per cent, in the value of the manufactured products, but that the 
total of the wages paid has increased by only 23 per cent., and the number of 
wage-earners only by 25 per cent. In other words, to convert a given value 
of raw material into manufactured articles costs much less in wages, and 
required far fewer workmen in 1898 than it did ten years before. The 
members of the commission will have an opportunity of investigating, each in 
respect of the industry he is best acquainted with, the circumstances under- 
lying this cheapening of production, which, it must be evident, is a factor of 
great importance to all countries that have to enter into commercial 
competition with the United States. The coal-miner, whose product is the 
basis upon which practically all manufacturing industries depend, will be 
interested to note that the average output of coal in the United States rose from 
133 millions of tons 1889-1890, and 162 millions in 1894-1895, to 233J 
millions in 1899-1900. The annual averages for the same periods in Great 
Britain were 179-J millions, 189 millions, and 222I millions : hence, though in 
1899-1900 we had a lead of 45f millions annually, and in 1894-95 one of 
26. I millions, in 1899-1900 we were 11 million tons behind. In the same 
period the average value of coal at the pit’s mouth has risen considerably in 
this country, from 6s. 8d. in 1894 and 6s. id. in 1895, to 7s. 7d. in 1899, and 
10s. pd. in 1900. In the United States, on the other hand, the value per 
ton has scarcely altered, but has remained steady from 1894 to 1900 at about 
5s. per ton. Too much stress must not be laid on the difference of cost in 
America and this country, because of the enormous differences in the fuel 
values of different coals, but, seeing that cheap coal is a matter of vital 
interest to all the trades represented on Mr. Mosely’s commission, the 
delegates may be expected to enquire whether American practice cannot give 
some hint as to how the great difference between the cost on the two sides of 
the Atlantic may be lessened. This hint they may find in the fact that the 
average annual output per man employed in America is about 550 tons, 
whereas in Great Britain it is only about 300 tons, and when they come to 
enquire into the causes of this difference they can scarcely fail to see one of 
them in the use of machinery at the working face, when they learn that in 1896 
only 14*17 per cent, of the output was won by machinery, and the output per 
man was only 443 tons, whereas in 1900 the proportion obtained by 
machinery was over 25 per cent., and the output per man had increased to 
548 tons. This change, moreover, was not effected by the miners working 
more hours per day than their English brothers, although they doubtless 
worked more days per week, since the eight hours day was largely introduced 
in American mines in 1897. In the production of iron and steel, a matter of 
great concern to almost all of them, the delegates will see the same increase in 
output, accompanied by mechanical handling of the materials, and the 
conduct of operations on the largest scale. The delegates may ask themselves 
whether everything possible has been done by themselves and by their 
employers to increase and cheapen the production of iron and steel in this 
country, and in face of the equipment they will see in American ironworks 
their answer can only be in the negative. Even in industries in which this 
country is still well ahead they may see signs which, as intelligent men, they 
must interpret to mean that we cannot continue to lead unless we are 
unremitting in our exertions to improve our methods. Generally speaking, it 
may be said that the recent industrial advance of America has been greatly 
helped by the introduction of labour-saving appliances, which has been 
rendered possible by the readiness of the American workmen to accept them. 
In this respect it can scarcely be doubted that the British manufacturer has 
shown himself much less enterprising than the American, but it must also be 
confessed that often, when he has been disposed to be enterprising, scant 
welcome has been accorded to his proposed changes, even though, as American 
experience shows, they would have been to the benefit no less of his men than 
of himself. 
