AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13613, 23 December 1909, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

The Department of Agriculture cannot be accused of elilatoriness in publishing the annual statistics, showing the area under crop and the probable yields this year. The information given is founded upon the conditions existing on December 10th, and to have the returns made public twelve days later shows more expedition than is usually the case with Government departments. The'statistics aro taken this year upon another plan than that hitherto obtaining, the information being supplied by farmers on forms supplied by the Department, instead of the usual collection of the statistics by paid enumerators. The figures ivere formerly taken a month earlier, and by fixing -a later date it has enabled farmers to give an estimate of tho probable yields, this not being done previously till harvest time, with a final check through average threshing returns. Whether the new system will ensure greater accuracy remains to be seen. It is _ matter for surprise to find that the area sown in wheat is set down as only 311,000 acres, an increase of 58,600 acres over last year, which is a trifle less than the increase last season over the. previous season. It has been generally considered that the area in wheat this year would show a considerably greater increase than was made in the previous period. It is questionable, indeed, whether 311,000 acres will be generally 'accepted as even approximately near tho total area now under wheat. The estimated yield of 35 bushels per acre (a quarter of a bushel more than last year) will probably be somewhere near the mark, provided, of course, that the rust haa done little damage, and that the weather for harvest is favourable. The estimated quantity of wheat that will be produced shouldallow for a considerable export trade being done. The area sown in oats is set down as 378,000 ! acres, as against 406,900 acres last ] year, a decrease of 28,900 acres, sol that tho increased area in wheat is partly at the expense of oats, though the reduction in the area in oats is probably not so large as is anticipated. The estimated yield of oats, j 47 bushels per acre, is half a bushel more than the actual yield last year. The barley crop cover*. 41,500 acres, a reduction in area of some 7000 acres as compared with the previous year, | and the estimated yield is set down as 38 bushels, or a little over a bushel and a half less than last season. Ryegrass has increased by some 6000 acres, with a promise of a slightly better yield, and cocksfoot is some 3000 acres less, also with a promise of a. better yield. It is estimated that there are 30,500 acres in potatoes, as against 29,919 acres last year. So far as Canterbury is concerned, the area was expected to be much smaller than last year, though there may again be a further increase in the North Island. The estimated yield per acre of six tons, as against six and a half tons last year, is probably over the mark, seeing the amount of damage done to early crops by the blight in parts of the North Island and the loss of seed through excessive wet in parts of Canterbury. It will be interesting to see how the statistics turn out, if they are subjected to a final check, as they should be in the case of crops where threshing returns can be obtained. There is no return made of tho grain on hand, an important omission to which the executive of the North Canterbury Branch of the Farmers' Union recently drew attention. Without such a return it is impossible to make anything like an accurate estimate of the quantity of grain available for export in the coming year.