BRITISH CROPS IN 1906.

Otago Witness, Issue 2762, 20 February 1907, Page 6

BRITISH CROPS IN 1906.

The British farmer had a good year in 1906, the preliminary estimate of the yields of the principal crops showing that in each of the cereal and pulse crops the total production, as well as that of the average per acre, last year was larger not only tlun in the previous year, but also than til.- ,iv. rrue ol the preceding 10 years. The h^uiva are tabulated as under :-^

A reduction of the area in wheat accounts i for the small advance in total production, though wheat was the best cereal crop of the year, and was nearly two and a-half bushels per acie in excess of the average for the preceding decade. England, Scotland, and Wales shared the abundance (these estimates do not include those relating to Irish crops, w hich are published at a later period). The production of barley was nearly two and a-half million bushels gueater than in 1905, notwithstanding a poor crop in Scotland ; the average yield in Scotland was one and a-half bushels below the decennial average, while in England and Wales the average was exceeded by nearly two bushels per acre. Nearly 7.000,000 bushels more oats were harvested' fhan in 1905, and the yield pr acre was over one and a-half bushels higher than the 10 years' average. In> England the yield was two and a-half bushels, and in Wales as much as four and three-quarter bushels, above the average, while Scotland shows a deficiency of one bushel per acre from the standard, and a decline of one and a-quarter million bushels as compared with the crop of 1905. Beans and peas, as crops, are practically confined to England, and both surpassed previous records — those of 1890 — in average yield per acre, beans being two bushels and peas one and a-half bushels higher. Both show an increase in total production compared with 1905, though the area of peas was considerably smaller than in that year. The figures relating to crops other than cereals are shown in the following table : — .

The yield of potatoes was more than, a quarter ton above the average, but below ' that of the previous year, and the diminu- , tion of the area- further oonduced to a. decreased total production. Turnips and swedes were half a ton per acre above tht* 1905 yield and one and a-quarter tons above the 10 years' average, and mangolds were more than a ton over the average, though half a ton below the yield of 1905. Mangolds were a record crop in Wales, but the area in the Principality was small. ' Hay in England was a very short crop, but the deficiency was more than made up by exceptionally heavy yields in Scotland and Wales. The only really unsatisfactory crop of the year was hops, the \i-eld being the lowest for any of the 22 years in which the statistics have been collected, with the one exception of the year 1888. The area was some 10,000 acres less than in that year, so that the present yield is the smallest recorded, being little more than onp-third of the previous year's quantity, which was the second largest on record. I Taking the figures generally, the most satisfactory features are the success of the corn and pulse crops in England and Wale«, and the abundant yield of hay in Wales and Scotland. Wales, indeed, has been tingularly fortunate, for the deficiency in potaties is the only exception .to an otherwise uniform record of unusu- . ally heavy crops. In Scotland only two ] of* the 10 crops were short, while in England three out of 11 (including hops) were deficient. The season as a whole may therefore be regarded as a very good one.

Estimated Total Produce. ,; Estir Vi per 3»ted !| Id || icre. |i -■\VC4iig« of the Ten Years 18961905. Crop. 1906. 1905. ,' 19 6 Eushels. |> Bush 58.902,49. 33-06 f.8,H0,C61 S4-5S U6,426,t87 40-55 8,-2n1,730 31-73 4,439 4S3i 30-/1 II ]905. | I'heat iar.ej 'ata ieai s Vas Bushels. 59,C91,77: CJ,55J,977 123,?83,857j 9,970,89: 4,515,78;. 33 91 ii .8-10 || 32 2S . 25 71 Rush. 31-22 30 04 5»92 28 .">9 28S1

Crop. Cstimati Prod Ed Total luce. Vii per t lated :ld I ere. Average of the Ten Years 1896195. 1906. 19C5. ar6. 1906. Tons. 3,428,711 Tons 3,762,70< 'OTIS 6 0C Tons 6-18 Tons. 5-78 Potatoes rurnipt am Swedes Mangolds Hay fr o n Clover, &c Hay from Permanent Grass 1 2,827,54f 8,638,480 3,300,969 21,840,68: 8,218,261 3,143,441 14 2£ 9 79 Juts 29 21 1374 20- 3-' Cwts 2872 12-96 18-70 Cwts. 29 06 5.384,802 Cwt?. 215,688 5,087,917 Cwts. 695,94: ■22-51 21-71 23 49 Hops .. 5-2fc U-2l! 9-12