Wheat Prospects.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 5084, 21 September 1891, Page 3

Wheat Prospects.

(Duuedin Star Correspondent.)

The grain situation has never been more promising than now. Market statisticians are figuring on an exportable surplus of 200,000,000 bushels of wheat, a growing crop of corn that is likely to approximate 2,000,000,000 bushels, with a fine yield of oats, rye, barley, hay, and potatoes. And there is every reason to expect fair prices to rule until the crop of 1892 begius to come on the market. The general failure of small grains in the food importing countries and Russia will undoubted!}* create an active demand upon the United States, Asia Minor, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Mr W. E. Bear, an English statistician, furnishes " Broadstreets' with an estimate of the shortage in the European grain crop this year. Russia and Poland produced last year 212,000,000 bushels of wheat, and sold abroad 90,000,000. This year the crop will not be over 180,000,000;

so that the exports could not be more than 40,000,000 bushels. Austria-Hungary falls short this year 27,000.000 bushels as compared with last year. The country will not be able to spare more than 8,000,000 bushels. Roumania has a good crop, and may be able to spare 30,000.000 bushels. Bulgaria and Servia may export 12,000,000 bushels. The power of the exporting countries of Europe to supply the importing countries is thus set down at 90,000;000 bushels as a maximum. The importing countries will have a deficiency of 371,000,000 bushels, so that Europe in the aggregate will be under the necessity of importing 281,000,000 bushels from the other quarters of the world. What countries can supply this amount ? Mr Bear thinks that India may furnish 33,000,000 and the United States 144,000.000, leaving still a shortage of 104,000,000, to be looked for in Australia, South America, Canada, Asia Minor, Egypt, etc. Mr Kains-Jackson shows that this wheat requirement of Europe will call for ship room of 5,600,000 bushels per week average for the whole year. The editor of Bradstreet's considers Mr Bear's estimate of the European deficiency rather under than over the mark.