THE WHEAT CROP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10362, 17 May 1895, Page 2

THE WHEAT CROP.

(Per Usited Press .Association.) . Wellington, May 16. ■ The Scgistrar-general h*s prepared the Following memorandum upon the wheat yield of the colony : -The wheat harvest of 1895 has been generally good throughout the colony, the total yield showing an a^rase of 24"32 bushels par acra, but as only 149,575 aores were sown fmxTxT^ V? realist- d w*« no' wore fesn IOT 4 cL 8> t gf 48 91. 695 bushels ia 189*. 8,373,217 bushels in 1693, nnd 10,257 738 bushels m 1892^ -Owing.to th« poor Wve«t in 189*. the exports of wneat aad Coiic (equivileno bushels of wheat) for fchnt year wfcrs 280 356 bushels only, egai05b"2,703.311 bushels in 1893 - while the imports increased from 2231 bushels m 1893 to 65,816 bushels in 1894. a%W-the average of 18_years, it is found that (exeluswa"^ ot the quantity required for seed) the yearly consumption of wheat per haad ■cf mean population is 7-33 bushels. It is held that this rite is at least one bushel too hijjh-the proportion last year was 645 bnsheJs—owin^ to overestimate* in yields returned by farmers" in-toe past. Accepting, then, 6-30 .buahels .as the amount per head required for food,'and assuming the mean population for 1595 to ba Tw lH*?e^n? s:^oncludiog Maoris), it foUowa that 4,630,500 bushels willsafcisty the aciual food' rsquiremeata for the year. In addition, ssed for,' say, 150,000 acresmnsb be provided. This at two bushels per scte (300,000 bushels), brings up the total quantity required in the colony to 4,930,500 bushes. An attccbed table shows the; wheat crop for 1895 to have bten 4,613,037 bushels, to wJnch'mugt be added th* quantity grown by Maoris, estimated at 270,075 bushels, and the anioaut of the 189* crop still held by farmer*. (259,747 bushels) mukicg a total of 4,152,859 bushels in the colony. From this it appear that unless large stocks are held by grain merchants, net only is there this year absolutely no wheat available for . export, but. • the colony may have to import more than half a million bushels of wheat, or its equivalent in flour, to supply the estimated demand. The wheat crop has fallen from 4,891.695 -bushels ia 18S4 to 3,613,037 bushels this year. It is worthy of special notice that the quantity of last year's crop remaining on band with farmers has like- ■ wise fallen frcm 557,315 bushels to 259 747 bushels-*' decrea?b of 297,568 bashels, or at the rate of mor* than 53 per.cent. Ruturasare to hand from Victoria showing th&i the yield of wheat "ia that colony for the current year has beeu 11,226,809 bushels -against 15.255^00 bushels lor the year 1894. Of the 148,575 acres in wheat this year there were no less than 107,352 acres in Canterbury and 31.653 acres in Otagc. The area in wheat for' Csnterburv showed a decrease from 174,252 acres in 1894 to 107,352 seres in"1895, and of the estimated produce from 3,407,842 bushels 5o 2,540,936bu5he15. In Otago the Jand laid down in wheat in IS9S was about two-thirds of the quantity for 1894, fchs redaction being from 53,058 acres to 31 653 acres. The estimatedyield fell from 1J.61',672 bushels to 830,715 bushels. ,