, 1875-05-15
THE WHEAT CROP OF 1875.
General Business Prospecfs,

] - oS+-~S~4--E nun a NlAt dita AilAol
nation relating to a subject of deep interes
to the business community. The Chicag
Tunes has directed its inquiries, not to tn
great cities, but to the raraI districts, aimin;
10 give an authentic statement Of the presen
prospects OF the wheat-growing States of tn
Northwest. 1t has a great array of tele
graph reports from numerous points in Hi
nois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas
Missouri, Michigan and Minnesota. in short
all the wheat-grQwing States any consider
able portion of whose products seek market
through Chicago, the great grain mart of tn,
continent.
The accounts rslate chiefly 10 the breadth
of ground sOwn with wheat as compared
with the area last year, and TO the condition
and appearance OF the winter wheat since
! tie close OF winter. On both these heads the
I reports are satisfactory and encouraging. The
breadth Of wheat sewn Is represented to be
even greater than it was last year, and the
appearance of the winter wheat fields is gen
orally very fine and thrifty. II was appre.
hended that great injury would lie done by
the unwonted severity of the winter; but,
fortunately, these forebodiugs have not been
realized, owing, 1t Is supposed, tc the depth
OF snow which lay on the ground during the
period when the cold was most intense.
/ Whether the protecting snow was an un-
mixed blessing may perhaps b. doubted.
/ Had the ground lain bare, and the frost
| done Its perfect work, a great part Of the
winter wheat might have been killed, bat
with it the life would have been frozen ont of
the eggs OF grasshoppers and chinGh bugs,
and agriculture have been exempted from
these scourges for many years 10 come. The
ground might have been reploughed for
| spring wheat and other crops, and the severe
winter have proved a blessing in disguise.
| We do not know whether winter wheat can
stand greater degree of cold than the e,gs
of Insects; but let us hope that 1t can, and
that the seeds of these pests have been de-
stroyed. Be this as it may, the prospects for
good wheat crop are excellent, batting acci-
| dents Of weather later in the Season and the
/ possible ravages Of insects
These promising reports from the great and
| fertile Northwest are of universal interest
! Agriculture is altogether the most important
! of our industries, and the one which gives
life to all the others. 1t Is the main pillar
Of the public prosperity. = healthy revival
/ OF business i'll the later summer and early
autumn Iaonths depends on propitious and
| fruitful season The majority of our people
OF the soil, and their ability TO purchase
! goods d pends on the abundance OF their
crops. 1t is the grain crop more than any
other which sets the wheels of trade in mo-
! tlOn, not only by the large market for manu-
factured articles created by the wants of it's
producers and their ability 10 pay, but also
| by the effect of cheap food in increasing the
consumption of other things by the iuhabi-
tants of citiea When food is dear and it
takes great part Of peoples earnings to
supply their tables there is little left for the
supply of less Indispensable wants. More
over, a stagrant demand for manufactured
D i. ~ ,,.l Ii, (
employment or diminishes their wages, so
that in proportion as food Is dear they have
less money to expend in its purchase. Agri-
culture is thus the main axle on which the
business of this country turns. Il also
furnishes the chief employment for our great
lines of transportation, the clamor for cheap
er freights within the last few years having
arisen in the great grain-growing regions of
the country. 1t is the grain trade which
covers the great lakes with vessels, which
gives employment to our canals, which
creates the chief competition between rival
Atlantic cities, which encourages the hopes
of CanaGa to raise IN the scale Of commercial
Importance by diverting Western products
down the ST. Lawrence.
The grain products of the West are the
chief source from which the stream OF our
foreign commerce is fed. The single article
of cotton makes, to be sure, larger figure
in our export statistics than the article of
wheat; but if We join with wheat Indian
corn, like bacon. pork and lard, the total con-
siderably exceeds the export Of cotton. We
insert the following statement Of the value of
such articles exported in 1874:
Wheat and sl30, IS, ,55S
Indian corn and dIneal.............-.-.. o. ~ $50