The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1874-05-14
The Wheat Crop.
From the EzHimore Amel.ica1a.

The Agricultural Bureau, in its repo 1T for
March, furnishes the data upon which a large
yield OF Wheat is predicted. Unless some un-
expected blight falls upon Il growing crop,
the harvest will be unusually abundant. In
this region, where spring wheat is never sown
and the bread made therefron is rarely eaten,
it is hard to behave the statement that only
four-tenths OF the wheat raised in the United
States is sOWn in the fall; but we suppose that
the Commissioner Of Agriculture has made his
estimate upon figures furnished by the CENSUS
reports, which ought to be thoroughly reliable.
The prophecy Of q large crop is. therefore,
founded upon the rel orted condition Of four
tenths OF the acreage at the close OF the
month Of March. Ii the spring wheat (Which
is estimated at sX-tenths of the whole crop
does as well as the fall wheat promises, we will
not only have an abundant supply for domes-
tic consumption, but there will be a large sur
plus which will assist us in adjusting foreign
balances. We can scarcely hope, however.
thai our ''Granger'' friends will have solved
the transportation question by the time the
growing crop is ready for the market, and We
will still be embarrassed with the veXatious
problem as to how the immense yield Of the
West is to be brought to the East at such rates
OF freight as will leave margin orrprofit to
the producer. And even if it were possible to
build in three months the ''tloubie track trans
continental railway from which so much is
expected, it would give rise to another prob
lem more difficult Of solution than the first
namely, the adjusting Of the price Of wheat so
as to give the farmers of the Middle States some
return for their labor the cost OF raising u
bushel Of wheat in Pennsylvania and Mary
land is almost equal to the price obtained for
1t. Ii the crop happens to be a poor one,
wheat is cultivated at a loss to the farmer. In
many instances the actual outlay for rent seed
and hired labor exceeds the sum obtained for
IF t}on fp1
own labor and that OF his family. This is -ow-
ing to the fact that wheat can be cultivated so
much cheaper on the Western prairies, and the
present Transportation facilities are such as to
make the price of busEel of wheat i'll the At
lantic cities less than the cost of producing it
any place east OF the Ohio river. What will
become Of the farmers in the Middle States
(Nhere wheat is the standard crop when the
'sdouhle track trans-continental freight rail
wa v" brings a bushel Of wheat from Chicago
to Baltimore for five cents? They will be o
big ed to devote their lands to some more re-
ma lucrative crop, or take Mr.. Greelay's advice
and 'sgo West"
But to return to the growing wheat. Con-
trary to tie general expectation, the wheat has
not been Injured by the freezing and thawing
of the winter months. It has been heretofore
supposed that snow was great protection to
the wheat fields, and prevented the roots OF
the plants from being injured by the frost; but
there was very little snow in Pennsylvania and
Maryland last winter, and during most of the
days OF the freezing months the fields were en-
tirely bare; Notwithstanding this fact, the grow
ing wheat is reported to be unusually luNuri-
ant and vigorous The sudden alterations
from days moderately cold to days unusually
warm seemed to have rather improved the tut
ty growth than retarded Or injured it. -Four
teen counties in Maryl nd have indicated pros
peers ranging from fair" to extra, Z" and not
one makes an unfavorable return. The aver
age crop of Delaware yields about one million
OF bushels.
This year the promise is quite up to the aver
age, if not above it. The improved methods Of
agriculture in some localities in Delaware have
often beea mentioned in The American
Wherever there has bee good farming, the
wheat crop is reported as excellent. There is
one county, however, in Maryland, which has
sometimes produced wheat crop equal to that
OF the whole OF the State of Delaware. We
believe it was in 1850 that the yield in Washing
ton county was one million OF bushels, and in
1867 the crop could not have fallen far below
this aggregate. 1t is to be hoped that the farm
ers in tine Eastern Shore counties will find some
compensation for the destruction Of the peach
blossoms by the Late freezing weathcrin good
wheat crop. A correspondent writes from Queen
Anne that he has never seen so fair promise
for wheat, and that the growth is excellent, e.
ven on low and unfayorable ground. As gen
eral rule, the early sowing is reported the best,
but owing to the heavy rains that set in shortly
after the September equinox, the seeding on the
Eastern Shore was unusually late. It would
seem that no experiments can determine the
comparative advantages OF early and late sow
ing. and that the success of each depends OH
the season and other conditions over which far
mers have no control.
We are glad to notice that there is a fine pros
pect for a large wheat crop in Virginia. Not
Withstanding the fertile soil Of the wheat grow
ing district Of That State, and the mild climate,
it has had rather more than the usual proper
ton OF crop failures since the war. We re-
member OF two OF three in which there were
drouths of unprecedented duration, both in the
early summer and in the autumn, which des-
tloyed the crops in that magnificent agricuttl-
raj region, the Valley of Virginia. The agri-
cultural report for March informs us that re-
turns from sixty-four counties represent the
prospects for wheat as excellent, and no county
reports the indications favorable. There is not
half so much Wheat sown in the Cotton States
as there ought to be, but wherever there are
wheat fields they look we'll. Scarcely an excep-
ton is reported. In North Carolina there has not
been such a prospect for good crop for ten
years, and the same may be said Of the other
Southern States, although there are counties in
Alabama and Mississippi and possibly in Geor-
gla, IN which scarcely a bllsllel of wheat is
grown. 1t is nipn thro,,osI, r,