THE WORLD’S FLAX CROP

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1530, 27 June 1901, Page 55

THE WORLD’S FLAX CROP

The “more important Governments that compile statistics of their agricultural products make known the annual yield of their principal crops as soon as the figures are available, “but estimates of minor crops are deferred by many countries until a later date. To collate figures from official sources upon many of the minor crops for the entire world is, therefore, impossible until a year or more after harvest. Flax and flax seed are products of agriculture that are cultivated in hut few countries as other than a subsidiary crop, and an estimate of the “world's production from official sources is possible for no later period than says the “Crop Reporter/’ the organ of the United States "Department of Agriculture. The world's production of flax seed for 1899 amounted to aproximately 68.553,000 bushels', a decrease of "4,386.000 bushels from the crop of the preceding year, and an increase of 10,956,500 bushels over that "of 1897. The production of flax seed on an important commercial scale is confined almost exclusively to four countries—Russia. British India, the United States, and Argentina. Russia in average years produces from 40 to 50 per cent, of the world’s crop, British India from 15 "to 25 per cent., the United States from 10 to 20 per cent., and Argent-

ina about 10 per cent. One striking change in the relative positions of these four countries as producers is apparent in 1899. In that year the United States rose to the front rank as a “producer of this seed, with a crop of 20,086,000 ‘bushels, against 18,022,000 bushels from Russia, 11,827,000 bushels from British India, and 9.000,000 'bushels/ from Argentina, or about 29 per cent, of the total world's crop in 1899 was the product of the United States, against 26 per cent, in Russia, 17 per cent, in British India, and 13 per cent, in Argentina. The maximum price made upon th© 1899 crop was the "highest that has been made in many years. In August and September. 1899, flax seed sold in the Chicago market a t from 96£ cents to Idol 21 cents per bushel. From that point the highest price for each succeeding month rose steadily until May 1900. -when flax seed touched Idol. 80 cents per bushel. A fair average price for the year from August 1899 'to August, 1900, seems to be about Idol. 49 cents per bushel, and at this price the 1899 ' crop of flax seed in the United States should have been worth about 30.000,000 dollars. Of the flax seed crop of the United States in 1899 having a total value of about <£6,000.000, about 70 per cent, was retained for domestic needs. “ As to exports, it may be noted that the utility of flax seed depends, aside from that used for seeding purposes, entirely upon its conversion into manufactured products; and it is significant of the enterprise of the domestic oil industry that a heavy proportion of the exports were in these forms.

Uf the <£2,000,000 worth of flax seed and its ‘products exported, m tire fiscal year 1899-1900, over 62 per cent, was in the torn of oil, oil cake, aiid oil-meal; 38 per cent, only of the value of the total exports was in unmanufactured form. The exports of flax seed amounted to 2,743,266 bushels, or, in bulk, less than 14 per cent, of the total 1899 crop. The cultivation of flax for fibr© on a noteworthy scale is confined entirely -to Europe. The total production of that continent in 1899 amounted to 1.123.943,000 pounds, against 1,780,693,000 pounds in the preceding year. Russia i 9 the leading country of the world in the production of flax fibre, a nd of the four great flax seed producing nations, it is the only one that gives attention to this phase of the industry. The Russian product in 1899 amounted to over 78 per cent, of the total production of the world, the remaining 21 to 22 per cent, being raised in varyproportions in th© nine minor flax-pro-ducing countries of Europe.