OTHER COUNTRIES. In Europe the cultivation of the sugar-beet has become a prominent industry in Germany, Austria-Mingary, France, and Rus sia, and of some importance in Belgium and the Netherlands. Germany grows more than one third of the product, and the four countries more than nine-tenths of it. The vine is of importance in all the Mediterranean region and in favored localities like those along the German Rhine, where vineyards have given an average net re turn of more than $100 per acre. Italy gives to the vine 9,000,000 acres, and France, with lowest acreage in 1891,and larger before and since,gives on an average 5,000,000 acres. France, also dat ing its progress from the Revolution, has become one of the richest of agricultural countries, and previous to 1874 was the greatest wheat produc ing country of the world. It is noted for its small farms and thrifty :agricultural class, more than half of whom are land owners. Germany, the greatest potato-producing country of the world, is also a country of varied agricultural production. Austria-Hungary, only about half a century from serfdom, has a government that fos ters agriculture, and presents the sharp contrasts illustrated by the steam cultivator on large es tates and the wooden plow on small farina. Rus sia, only thirty years from serfdom, shows agri cultural methods in sharp contrast with an im mense agricultural production.
The garden of Italy is the Lombard plain, with its more than 1,600,000 acres of irrigated land and its careful systems of cultivation. Be- , sides large crops of wheat, maize, grapes, and olives, Italy produces great quantities of lemons and oranges, and has more than half a million people engaged in raising silkworms. In Spain, despite vines, oranges, olives, and the possibili ties of irrigation and a succession of crops, ag riculture looks backward to the time of the z Moor.
China, with an agriculture unchanged from legendary times, and India are countries in which rude implements are overbalanced by irri gation and garden-like cultivation. With rice
as a principal food product, they support a dense population, have a great variety of crops, and are increasing factors in computing the world's supply.
Egypt, under the guidance of England, is pro ducing great amounts of sugar and a high grade cotton.
Australasia has already developed beyond the pastoral stage, and besides cattle and sheep is exporting dairy and other products. In South America, the Argentine Republic is an important factor in the world's agricultural market, with its wheat, wool, cattle, and wine; and Brazil holds a leading place in the production of coffee. In Central America, including Mexico, the rais ing of cattle and sheep has become a large in dustry, and the exports of coffee, cocoa, and bananas are important. The West Indies and the Hawaiian Islands produce large quantities of cane sugar.
The following table, prepared under the direc tion of Mr. John Hyde, statistician of the United States Department of Agriculture, shows the amount of the principal agricultural products of different countries for the year 1900. Al- • though these returns are not complete for all the countries, they furnish interesting data re garding the relative agricultural production of different regions. Of the world's wheat crop of about 2613 million bushels, the United States produces nearly one-fifth. The other chief wheat growing countries are Russia, France, Austria Hungary, India, Germany, Italy. Spain, and the Argentine Republic. The United States produces three-fourths of the world's maize crop of 2825 million bushels, and more than one-half of the crop of 7533 million pounds of cotton. leads the world in the prodmtiou of rye. oats, and barley, and in the yield of potatoes it is by Germany only. Australia, the Ar gentine Republic. and the United States are the chief wool growing countries. Outside of the United States most of the cotton is grown in Itlia, China, and Egypt. Tobacco is an impor tant (Top in Austria-Hungary, Japan, Germany, and France.