Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-10-30
,y,,e whent Market---Foreign and
Dnmesfic. ~. =.

Domestic. 4A&
II appears from the regular reports OF
the Agricultural Department, that the
whole amount of the annual surplus OF
wheat, above consumption and avaliaDle
for export, is only 20, 600, 0oO Dusneds'
while the crop is estimated at SSo,o oo'-
600 bushels. Yet these 2O,OOO,oOO ous.-
els Skinned abroad make more noise IN
the world. and cause larger expendi-
ture of money for transportation, stor-
are. etc, than if they were six times |
the amount. In this business, as In all
others. IL will be seen that the domestic |
market is ten times as great as the for
eign, and the domestic market increases |
all the time on an immense scale, while |
the foreign market does not. The rea-
son of this is that in the latter which is
chiefly in England, we have to compete
with Russia, Holland, Germany, France |
and other countries that produce sur
plus, while at home we have no compe- |
titiOn. Russia at the present time SENDS
more wheat to England than we do, and
will probably continue to do so.
This subject has of late been better
understood all over the country than
formerly, and hence the movement visi-
BILE at the West to establish greater home |
markets by means of domestic industry.
IL is very likely that if the wheat Gull
ture were as close and excellent here as
it is in England, whose crop has risen
from 10000 900 to 00,000,OOO bushels,
orr farmers might raise 500, 900, 900 |
and then we should have more to spare
for expectation. But the production
does not seem to pay well enough to
warrant any expectation of o large in
crease like that. This may be under
stood when we state that the Atlantic
and Gulf States require 81, 931, S48 bush
els over and above their production to
sustain their population. Now if the
reader bears this fact in mind, and also
remembers that this deficiency must be
supplied by the West, he will under
stand the force of what we say, that the
home market is of more value to the
West than the foreign market. The
whole consumption of Great Britain is
10000, 900 bushels, and she raises 100,-
600 900 bushels, so that she must import
76,000,000 bushels. We cannot hope
under any circumstances to supply the
whole of this, in view of the compe-
tition, and in point of fact we have no
such surplus to send. We have only a
surplus of 20,000,000 bushels; so that
the Atlantic and Gulf States compare
with the foreign market in the ratio of
G7 to 20. The States that produce above
their own needs are Tennessee, 2,734,-
730; Pacific States 90, 237, 263; North
western States, 65, 459, 400; total, 30
1871 ,4SS.
There is point here that seems to be
lost sight of. The market in the At
lantic and Gulf States increases rapidly
with the growth of wealth and popula-
fion for MONS Y,onJc with hio
means. The ability of the States OF
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to produce q
surplus becomes constantly less. In a
few years they will be purely consumers,
and have deficiency like New England
and the Middle States. The area of
wheat culture pushes steadily westward,
while it makes no progress at all in the
Atlantic States, and is more likely to re-
cede than otherwise. The trouble in
transportation that has given rise to the
farmers combination arises wholly from
this movement westward. The produ-
Ger and consumer are getting further
and further apart. The area of produc-
ton will soon reach such a remot int
that wheat will not bear foreign Pc
and will be only available for domestic
consumption. We presume that the re-
suit will be reaction in favor of ex-
tended and improved wheat culture in
the Atlantic States.
This wonderful progress of consunp-
ton at home is even more remarkable
than the progress in manufactured
goods, since it shows clearly that the
thing so long talked of as in the future
is already achieved. Nor could it wen
be otherwise, since it is estimated that
the agricultural population and its con-
OnOtpI nr1d laVat,Iaof spf
%, $50, 600 persons out of q total popu-
lation of 90, 100000, all of whom eat
wheat bread or corn. The only reason
that there is any surplus for export is
that the negroes and poor whites of the
South live on corn bread. If they ate
wheat bread there would be no surplus
ut all. In this view Of the case the
schemes of railways and canals to take
wheat from the Northwest to Southern
markets have q peculiar interest. Ele-
vate these corn-bread eaters of the South
TO the level of the wheat bread eating
workmen of the north. and the whole
surplus must vanish. 1t must also be
borne in mind that large portion of
these poor whites of the South do not
even eat bread of any kind, but live on
edible clay. Ciyilize these poor people,
improve their condition, give them work
and wages, and they will want bread
like Northern working classes. Prob
lens like these are constantly in the
minds of the English with regard to the
most distant lands and the most barbar-
Gus races. And if the enterprising man
ayers of the American grain trade can
once get out of the influence of wild
and continual uprOar about the English
market, and pay some attention to the
development of openings like these, the
internal traffic will assume a new and
interesting form. The clay eaters live
IN States that want 10, 495, 275 bushels of
wheat more than they raise. Hence
they eat clay because they cannot get
bread. Now we need not wonder at
this when we bear in mind the price
bread often reaches in the Middle States.
The railroads and the factories fast null
tiplying in the south win give fun en-
ployment at good wages, and if the
wheat is sent there it win find q good
market. The development of a great
wheat market in the South would be
greater achievement for the enterprising
grain trade of st. Louis and Chicago
than to maintain competition in Eng
land with Russia. The benefits of the
Southern Improvement would be felt by
the whole country. PHILADELPHIA Anaer-
tcG1 and Gazette