AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 921, 29 March 1879, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS.

Through the courtesy of Inspector Thompson, the Superintendent Collector, we :ire enabled to place before our readers the agricultural statistics for the County ~f Waitaki and that part of Waikouaiti Ciiimtv north of Waitati stream, as lullov.":

WAITAKI COUNTY. Number of holdings Freehold, "30 ; reiited. 111); part rented and part freehold. 117. Extent of land broken up but not under cro acres. In wlieat—Sown for grain only, 28,188 acres ; estimated gross produce, 719,074 bushels. In oats—For green food or hay, 907 acres : for grain. 20',004 acres ; estimated gross produce of grain, 013,90(5 bushels. h\ barley—Sown for grain only, 241(5 acres ; estimated gross produce, 72,579 bushels.

Ininiy— 1557 acres; estimated gross produce, 1977 tons. In grasses, after having been broken up, includincr such as in hay—Si,393 acres. Grass-sown lands not previously ploughed, including such as in hay—4G69 acres. In potatoes 810 acres : estimated gross produce, 4407 tons. In other crops—so 46 acres. Total number of acres under crop, includiuir sown grasses—l44,o2o,. Quantity of last year's crop remaining on hand when the form was filled up—Wheat, 3(5,030 bushels; oats, 11,910 bushels; barley, 32.

WAIKOUAITI COU3TY. Number of holdings—Freehold, 229 ; rented, 104; part rented and part freehold, 43 Extent of land broken up, but not under crop —3(575 acres. In wlieat—Sown for grain only, 6821 acres ; estimated gioss produce, 223,719 bushels. In oats—For green food or hay, 849 acres ; for grain, 8675 acres; estimated gross produce of grain, 237,637 bushels. In barley—Sown for grain only, 400 acres ; estimated gross produce, 10,712 bushels. In hay—72S acres ; estimated gross produce, 992 tons. In grasses, after having been broken up, including such as in hay—21,353 acres. Grass sown lands not previouslyploughed—--15,345 acres. In potatoes—3S3 acres ; estimated gross produce, 200S tons. In other crops—ll69 acres. Total number of acres under crop, including sown grasses —55,729 acres. Quantity of last year's crop remaining on hand when last year's form was filled up— Wheat, OSG2 bushels ; oats, 2426 bushels ; barley, 0. COMPARISONS. It mav be interesting to compare the quantity" of produce grown this season with that crown last year. This can best be done by placing the figures in tabular fashion, so that the relative quantities may be seen at a glance. The figures for Waitaki County are as follow : 1878 1579 Wheat (bushels) ... 1,007,956 719,074 Oats (bushels) ... 673,345 913,966 Karlev (bushels) ... 39,51S 72,579 jr. L y ("tons) 1,635 1,977 Potatoes (tons) ... 4,7114 4,407 The average yields per acre this year are, roughly speaking, estimated as follow : Wheat, 25.V bushels per acre ; oats, 35 bushels per" acre ; barley, 30 bushels per acre. . In Waikouaiti County the crops for this year compare with those for 1878 as follows : IS7S 1579 Wlieat (bushels) ... 195,331 223,719 Oats (bushels) ... 200,693 237,637 Barley (bushels) ... 3,609 10,712 Hay (tons) 279 992 Potatoes (tons) ... 1.90S 2,008

1 The c: ' i mated average yields in Waikouaiti bounty are as follow : —Wheat, 34£ bushels per acre ; oats, 29k bushels per acre ; barley, 26i bushels per acre. It will be observed from the foregoing that while the average yield of wheat per' < acre in Waitaki fell a long way short of that of Waikouaiti, the average yields of . oats and barley in this county are each ; considerably in advance of those of the sister county.