The Washington herald., 1921-09-02
WORLD GRAIN CROP
SOMEWHAT LARGER
|0THAN LAST YEARS
Wheat Reports From 20
Nations Show Slight
Increase.
ONLY RUSSIA SHORT
Failure to Seed and Severe
Drought Cause of the
Shortage.
ONLY RUSSIA SHORT

Prospects for the worlds wheat
supply. while not so satisfactory as
was expected during the first part
OF the current season. show at the
present time no cause for serious
alarm. Estimates of the quantity
. of wheat harvested In twenty coun-
tries, including the United States.
for 1891, total 7.fs1, 10000 bushels.
compared with 2.3S4.143.Oo bushels
harvested last year, according to
data compiled by the Bureau of
Markets and Crop Estimates. United
States Department of Agriculture.
The twenty countries included in
this estimate are the United States,
Canada, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay,
Bulgaria, Finland, France. Greece,
4 Hungary. Italy. Spain, British India,
. Japan, Algeria. Tunis. Union of
South Africa, Australia, and New
sZealand. These countries produced
: approximately IS per cent of the
! known wheat crop of the world dur
ing the years 1s03-13. according to
the annual average production rec
ords of the bureau.
Drought Was Serious Menace.
," Although the long-sustained
drought throughout the greater part
of the northern hemisphere was a
serious menace to the various crops
IN many countries, the fall-sown
wheat has not been affected ad-
versely so much as was at first
supposed. On the contrary, the fall
sown wheat managed to obtain a
4 firm hold on the soil and a fairly
vigorous growth before the begin
ming of the drought.
Nearly all of Northern and Cen
tral Europe will have larger wheat
crops this year than last, according
10 the last estimates made by the
bureau. Belgium and Greece being
! the only countries in which smaller
crops are expected.
Outside of Europe. British India
was most seriously affected by the
drought. The dryness and the hot
! winds that have prevailed through
out most OF the growing season
have resulted in the very low yield
of 25O.469.O00 bushels of wheat. or
about 5O.OO0.00O bushels less than
the quantity normally consumed in
that country. With the rice crop
also seriously affected. India is eN
: pected to import wheat this year
instea5 OF exporting it, In an aver
age year before the world war.
India exported over $4,000, 900
/. bushels of whPGt.
f. In Canada the total yield of spring
wheat is estimated at 273.O20. 900
i. bushels. OF which 264.137.0O0 bushels
were grown in Saskatchewan, Mani
? toba, and Alberta. Fall wheat.
grown almost exclusively in On
tario and Alberta, was estimated
at f5.473.0OO bushels. The total
wheat yield of Canada for 1921 is
therefore 2SS,493,O0O bushels. COM
pared with 263.1S9,00O bushels last
: year.
Russian Crops Hopeless.
, "A very unsatisfactory feature in
sthe present international situation
is the hopeless condition of the
Russian crops. Unofficial reports
1state that during last autumn and
: the spring of this year only a very
'lsmall area was sown to the various
1crops, resulting in a failure to
produce sufficient food for the
cOuntry's needs 1t is also reported
upofficially that considerable
amount of wheat will yet be i'm
ported by Russia this year. But
up to the present time the amount
of wheat. as well as oTner FOOD
stuffs, which will be Imported is
conjectural. and the Bureau of
Market and Crop Estimates is un-
able to make a definite statement
concerning il.
In Northern Africa, the wheat
crop was generally larger than last
year. In Algeria, thrashing results
show a better yield than was ex-
pected earlier in the season. In
Tunis. bad weather reduced the
yields somewhat from those ex-
pected earlier, while in Morocco
the crop was generally reported as
satisfactory. According to esti-
mates published by the Internation-
al Institute of Agriculture at Rome,
these three countries are expected
10 produce, for 1921. yield of &c.
$4,000 bushels of wheat. compared
with 36.743,000 bushels in 1920.