Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-08-08
TIE YEAR OF BOUNTY.
,,nndan; Crops Eyerywhere-.-The Real
Wealth of the Country.
Toledo Blade.

Toledo Blade
Tho crop now being harvested is the
st the country ever had The acre
nl s of wheat is largely in excess of any
nee the settlement OF the country, and
,hn Weld per acre is infinitely greater.
I =, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
- "a IN fact all the wheat-growing States,
ar. anG average will not fall much below
.,.m.oontv-tive bushels to the acre. To put
,ot twenty would be entirely safe. Hay
!, n,acnificent, and has been secured
- The very best condition. The wealth
~ has been especially favorable, and
,be ouantity of the crop is not only i'm
, Nan. but the quality is better than it
bas been for years. Corn is now GER
,n;ntv Never was the eye gladdened
NTH the sight of such fields. The stalks
,awor qloriously, and the color is superb.
In some localities there has been dam
AGO done by an excess of rain, but the
.TIendid weather of the past few weeks
bos brought much of that safely out,
and fields that were given up three
weeks ago now promise an average
Weld These spots are so small and so
widely scattered as to be nothing but
.nncks upon the smooth surface of our
nrosperity. This crop is so far along
ibat the Weld is certain to be immense,
oven though we do not have another
drop of rain during the season The
.ituation is peculiarly favorable. This
enormous harvest finds the country
comparatively bare of grain, and with
very high prices ruling. The war in
Europe makes it certain that prices re-
munerative to the farmer WILDE main
tanned for year at least, even though
they should drop far below what they
now are. The wheat will be marketed
Immediately, and vast amount of
money will be put in circulation. AL
ready the small buyers on the network
Of railroads that centre in Toledo are
teegraphing for currency with which to
move the crop, and already the first
fruits of the great harvest are beginning
10 come in. Last week we received
wheat from southern Indiana and H.
mois, this week there will be more,
and next an avalanche. 1t is to be pre-
,umed that the same condition of things
exists, though in less degree at the other
grain centres of the country.
We can obtain some conception of the
immense benefits to be showered upon
the whole land by the consideration of
the statistics of that portion of the coun-
try'S grain business which is transacted
through this city. The last abundant
crop of wheat in the West was in 1874.
Of that there was received at this port
the enormous quantity Of 10, Joy 1888
bushels of wheat and 1896 barrels of
-four making altogether IA, GAG, 226 bush
els of wheat. During the harvesting Of
that year the prospects of a large yield
were not nearly so satisfactory to the
farmers everywhere as now. There was
vastly more croaking and grumbling
than there is at this time. If we are
allowed to Judge at all by this, the pro-
duct per acre must be at least 90 per
cent, more than that of 1874 Then
comes in another important condition.
The wheat producing area is much
greater than in 1874; the number
Of farms is greater; there is more coun-
try cleared, and more ground reduced
70 cultivation. The farming interest
has developed greatly in the last few
years, because other enterprises have
stood still. Then, again, every farmer
was convinced that high prices were to
rule this year, and he strained every
nerve to seed down the last acre that
his resources would admit of. The in
creased acreage devoted to grain has
been placed by some observers rs high
as 80 per cent, and by none at less than
20per cent. 1t is not extravaganza to
estimate that the joint effect of these
causes viii swell the volume of grain to
pour INTO this city alone to 20,O0O,O0O or
2o,O0o.OOO bushels. There Is hardly Il
possibility that the average price of this
gram will fall as low as 81 bushel; it is
much more likely to range in the neigh
horhood of Sl.5O; but at 81, even, it will
BRING IN money enough to swell all the
currents of commerce bank full.
In 1874 there was also a good corn
crop, butt better than this years prom
l>eS to be. The total number of bushels
received here was II ,O31 1896. The same
reasoning IN regard to extension of acre
age OF wheat applies with equal force
70 TINS crop, and we can accordingly
confidently expect our corn receipts to
swell to 50,0OOo90 bushels, ranging in
Price from 40 to 60 cents. At an aver
age OF even 40 cents, it will bring ST.,
WV'oVo, but IT is more likely to realize
more money than the Alabama award
amounted to. Oats, which have been a
"iiure since 1874, will this year yield
very much more than they did then,
HT.lien We received 6,460,247 bushels.
Il We get no more than then, and they
",Serage no higher than 80 cents bush
v, Lley will add nearly $4,000, 900 to the