THE WORLD'S HARVEST.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2363, 20 January 1915, Page 8

THE WORLD'S HARVEST.

SHORTAGE ON LAST YEAR. The November number of the • 'Bulletin of Agricultural and Commercial Statistics, of the International Institute of 1 'Agriculture" publishes data of. the harvest in 1914. The figures are y>i particular interest at this juncture. ;The silmmary, of the position states:—- ' The.'production in the year 1914 in •<the group of countries representing v about 80 per cent, of the total production of the Northern Hemisphere (-amounts in. round numbers to. 792 mil- , vlion quintals,, .'.while thp^; corresponding" production s '-the' same countries '. in. • 11913 was 872, million quintals. Hence. ' 'there is this year in ,these countries a in absolute figures of 80 million quintals, or 9.2 per cent, in relative figures. The 1914 production (figures, however, for Austria, France, "Norway, some. .Governments of Russia fja Asia,""Egypt,' and Southern Germany ,are, not yet known, but in these countries the total production in 1913 was'l4s 'million quintals. , " , "It is'only' 1 known, from reports received, from the latter countries during the past months, that the 1914 harvest s .was average- Hence there will be a diminution all the same of 9 per cent, i compared with last year. In some other , countries for which;.no information either for 1914 or for/1918 iB to hand,tho production may;'M;estimated atj.6o; ■ million 1 quintals. It'must,', however, be . i noted that the 1913 production was ex- - cepfcioiially largo, and' much above the ' average, so with; tho ; average production' for. the ten years, 1903r12 (686 million quintals), ' this year's-production. is 106 million quintals, or 16.5 per cent, above the said average-*". '" 2" . "In an examination of the world situation's regards"wheat" production at the 'present moment,, the coming'harvest iu tfo; countries®* the Southern Hemisphere cannot be left out of account. The iotaj production in Argentina, Australia, Uruguay, and New Zealand in 1913-14: was" 66 million quintals, which is much below' both the preceding, year's production and the decennial average. Hcnce; if the produotion in these countries; in 1914-16 were-only equal to the average, it would be higher than, that in 1913-14, a situation which' could not but rhave favourable consequences as regards exporting.' countries especially."Although; harvest is still fairly ; distant,' the forecasts that can-be made just how are. not good"foir'.the, Austra- ( lian'crop which, acoount. of drought, '■is forecasted at-from 5J ;.to- 8 .million quintals, against 28 njilhoh!in;l9l3 ; -14. \ For - Argentina official data on.'thej next crop; are not "known yet, ;but ■ the area (,cultivated in is slightly less than that in 1913-14. being 6,300,000 (hectares in 1914-15 and • 6,600,000 in 1913-14. ( "Transport difficulties created by the ' present political situation have led <to a 'general rise of prices. The latter is | more or less accentuated according to the geographical and -political position ■i of the country concerned. In some ' countries prices are almost double what (they were last year, such as oh tho of Vienna and Budapest, where ' wheat -was quoted at from 42 to. 44 sfrancs per quintal on November 13',curJrent, compared with 22-23 francs on Noli'vember 14, 1913." 3 ! '