YIELD OF CROPS PER ACREIN GREAT BRITAIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1951, 11 April 1889, Page 8

YIELD OF CROPS PER ACREIN GREAT BRITAIN.

Bad as this account of the crops of 1888, compared with the ordinary average, is, it will be seen that several of the crops were better than those of 1887 as far -as measure is concerned. But the quality and weight of the grain of last harvest is so far below the mark that there is bo reason, fw congratulation, Much surprise

has been occasioned by the deficiency put down for the root crops, and for the small surplus allowed for hay — a - very bulky crop. The figures for Ireland and the United Kfagdom are, given in the statistics for 1887 and 1888 only, no "ordinary average" being computed for Ireland, and therefore none for the United Kingdom. The details appear below :— YIELD OP CHOPS IN IBBLAND AND THB UNITED KINGDOM. Ireland. U. Kingdom. Crops. 1887. 1888. 1887. 1888.' Bush. Bush. Bush. Bush. Wheat ... 28-31 25-79 31*97 2797 Barley ... 2861 85-39 31*12 33-03 Oats ... 3308 3963 34-25 3795 Beans ... 21*08 23*47 22-47 28*61 Peas ... 23*14 22-11 2443 24*20 Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Potatoes ... 4*48 3*14 6*26 4*oo Turnips ... 906 11*31 989 12*51, Mangels ... 1090 12*90 14-61 16*78 Hay from 010- - ' ver,&o. ... 1*79 221 1*45 I*sß Hay from perman'fc paiture 1*63 238 I*lß I*Bs The crops in Ireland were much better, relatively, than those of England or Scotland, for in the sister island barley, oats, mangels, and hay exceeded the previous 10 years' average, as' well as rye and flax, not included in the produce statistics for Great Britain, because not grown to any considerable extent in England or Scotland. BILLING CATTLE BX LIVE WEIGHT. An illustration of the advantage of selling cattle by live weight was afforded the other day by Mr M'Jannet, of Over-Invierar, near Stirling. He invited a number of farmers to inspect four fat bullocks he was about to send to market, and nine were induced to value them in the usual way — by guesswork. To show how wide apart the valuations were, the followißg table is given i —

Average of the nine valuations, £H Os 6d. Mr M'Jannet then stated that he considered his bullocks were worth 39s per cwt live weight in Edinburgh, or 36s per cwt at home, and proceeded to weigh the bullocks on his weighbridge. The weights were found to be : — cwt. qr. Ib. £ s. d. No. 1 bullock ... 11 3 7 at 36s ... 21 5 3 No. 2bullook „.11 2 21 at 36s ... 21 0 9 No. 3 bullock ... 11 0 21 at 36s ... 20 0 9 No. 4 bullock ...10 2 0 at 36s ... 18 18 0 Total ... 45 0 21 £81 4 0 These weights, at 36s per cwt, give £81 4s 9d, or £7 4s 3d above the average value put on the animals by the valuers. Mr M'Jannet stated that he was satisfied his machine was nearer the value than his friends, and supposing a butcher were to offer £80 for these bullocks he would not sell them. He promised to show his friends the sale note he received from the auctioneers, and he hoped it would be even more than he calculated on. Why, he said, £74 for 45cwt of live weight was only 32s lOd per cwt live weight, or 58s per carcass cwt, that is, sinking the offal, and if Fifeshire farmers could afford to sell their fat cattle at this low price, he could not. A few days after the four bullocks were sent to Edinburgh market, and the sale note of the auctioneers, Messrs John Swan and Sons, Haymarket, Edinburgh, dated 29th January 1889, showed that — £ s. d. No. 1 bullock was sold for ... ' ... 21 12 6 No. 2 and No. 3 bullocks were sold together for ... ... ... 40 10 0 No. i bullock was sold for ... ... 19 5 0 Total ... ... ...£Bl 7 6 The market was a bad one, and the beasts did not make the 39s that Mr M'Jannet expected, but only about 36a per cwt; yet they realised £7 7s more than the average ef the farmers' estimates, and £11 7s dd more than the lowest of them. AGBICUI/TUBE IN PAELIAMBNT. The Queen's Speech, read at the opening of Parliament on Thursday, contained a few references to measures of special interest to agriculturists in addition to the Board of Agriculture Bill, already mentioned. The unsatisfactory Bills, brought forward ' by Lord Salisbury last session, are to be reintroduced. Possibly, however, they may have been improved. A Local Government Bill is promised for Scotland, and the measure passed in an incomplete form for England last year is to be extended— district councils probably being intended in addition to the county councils, as proposed in the original draft of the bill. The licensing question, too, may come up again, the licensing clauses as well as those relating to district councils having been dropped last session to lighten the bill. A measure for facilitating the transfer of land is also promised ; while for Ireland there are to be some land improvement or draining measures, as well as some attempt to improve the constitution of the various tribunals whicb have special jurisdiction over the land. Several measures relating to the land or those occupied upon it are down in the list of notices of private members of Parliament, but probably not more than one or two will ever come to a second reading, as the proposed increase of expenditure on our national defences and the local government and Irish questions will take up nearly the whole of the session.

J.UU. VI MJOV, 1U - 1888. , .. ■ i*. i ii .^ Crops. |g 1887. 1888. g|g g g Bush. Bush. Bush. Bush. Bush, fheafc ... 28-80 3207 28*05 —0-75 —4-02 larley ... 34-02 31-32 32-84 —1-18 +1-52 >ats ... ... 3904 34-74 3724 —I*Bo +2 50 leans „.30-36 22-49 28-68 ,—l-68 +619 •eas ... ... 28-48 2443 24-21 —4*27 — 022 Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons, •otatoes ... 6-11 637 s'lß — 093 —1-19 'urnips ... 15-27 10 01 1269 — 258 +268 langela ... 1981 15-04 17-27 —2-54 +2-23 [ay from clover, &O. ... 147 1-36 1-40 —0-07 +o'o4 [ay from permanent pasture... I'2B l'O4 1-41 +0-13 +0-37 Gwfc. Cwt. Owt. Owt. Owt. [ops... ... 7*84 7-18 4-81 -3-03 —237

m £ B. 8t farmer ... 19 0 lad „ ... 18 0 ird „ ... 18 10 Lth 18 0 ith „ ... 19 0 Ith „ ... 19 10 r th 21 10 ith „ ... 21 10 Ith „ ... 21 0 if w £ B. 17 0 19 0 17 15 19 0 18 10 19 10 19 10 19 0 20 0 n £ 8. 17 0 17 0 17 0 17 10 18 0 19 0 18 10 18 0 19 10 62 fc"3 m £ •. 17 0 16 0 17 10 17 10 18 0 19 0 18 10 18 0 19 10 ££ £ s. 70 0 70 0 70 15 72 0 73 10 77 0 78 0 76 10 80 0