HARVEST ESTIMATES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVII, Issue 6534, 4 February 1882, Page 6

HARVEST ESTIMATES.

(Canterbury Time?.) Though harvest only comes bat once a year in all temperate climates, yet the work of gathering in the fruits of the soil never ceases, taking the whole world together. In January the harvest in most parts of Australia comes to an end, and the harvest in New Zealand and in some parts of South America begins. February and March are the harvest months of Upper Egypt and India, while the following month takes in Mexico and Persia, together with several countries on the southern and eastern coast of the Mediterranean. Texas, Florida, China, Japan, Central Asia, are among the more important divisions of the globe which being harvest operations in May, but it is not until June that the great wheat-growing countries begin to gather in the year’s produce. Daring this month the wheat fields of California, Oregon, South Russia, Danubian provinces, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Turkey, and several other countries are ready for the reaper. In July harvest begins in the United Kingdom, in several of the most important wheat - producing States of America, and also throughout a considerable portion of the European continent. The harvest of the last named countries continues through August, and is not finished in the later parts of Europe until October. The South Australian, South African and Peruvian harvests begin in November, and in the Argentine Republic and Chili in December.

Of the wheat producing countries the United States tops the list with an estimated yield for the harvest of 1881 of fifty million quarters, and India comes next with a yield of forty-two million quarters. Although India is such an immense producer, wede not hear much about that country as affecting the European markets. The population of India is so great that it consumes nearly all that it produces, the qusntity of wheat available for export being only about equal to that of Canada and Australia, with a total yield of less than nine million quarters. Russia, with its forty million quarters, takes third place on the list, followed by Franco with twenty-eight million quarters. Spain

is credited with eighteen million quarter*, Italy some three million* let*, Germany four* een million, Turkey twelve million, and the United Kingdom and Austria-Hungary each with ten million quarter*. Holland and Belgium have only two and a-half Bullion quarter* between them, and Australia and Canada are both comparatively insignificant as wheat-growing countries, Reckoning at per head of population, however, Australasia is among the leading exporting countries, einoe after supplying the want, of it* own population it has 6 61 bushels per inhabitant to spare for export. This is only distanced by the United States with a surplus of 7 44 bushels per inhobitan'. Russia has only 219 bushels per head of population to spare, and Canada 1-65. The countries showing a deficiency are the United Kingdom-whioh needs to purchase B*l2 bushels per head—Belgium, France, Holland, Germany and Portugal. Norway are also short, but the deficiency is not great, Denmark appears to bo in flourishing circumstances, since it has an Animated surplus of 5 97 bushels of gram, and 67 6Blb of meat. In the quantities here followed the estimates compiled by Mr Rains-Jackson. Tn statistics of this kind it is obviously impossible to get at the ex ot truth, bub the estimates given ore probably near enough for purposes of comparison. Eye, maize and rice take an important place in the world’* harvest. The United State*, for the five year* preceding the produced an aggregate quantity of 200,(X»,ooo quarter* of maize, of which only eornething like five per cent, wa* exported, the bulx or this enormous production being required to feed the 80,000,000 pigs kept in the country. Bye is the staple food of Russia, Germa y and Austria-Hungary, although in Germ y the consumption ha* fallen off a good d a late years. The production of rye m Russia last year is estimated at 75,000,000 There is also a largo consumption of t i grain in France. Each Frenchman is credited with an average yearly consumption of seven bushels of wheat, and two bushels of rye, while the overage Englishman eat? only five and a-half bushels of wheat and no rye. The Englishman probably make* up the deficiency with animal food.* India produced last year an estimated quantity of 200,000,000 quarters of rice, this being one of the chief articles of food or its immense population of 282,000,000, The rice production of. India compared with that ot China is in the proportion of_ five to four, although the population of India is only twothirds of that of China. Mr Earns-Jackson attributes the greater yield enjoyed by the former country chiefly to the orderly .and economic British rule which encourages irrigation, and is in many other ways favourable to the development of agriculture.