The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-04-23

The April report Of the Department oil
Agriculture gives some very interesting
facts in regard to the condition OF winter
wheat The returns OF comparative area
seeded TO winter wheat indicate . very
small increase in the.breadth in this cereal,
averaging scarcely one per cent. The
acreage Of West Virginia is 425,7O0, which
Is 20 per cent Of the amount last year,
The acreage Of the country in 1882 was
27,4S2, $50 acres; 1t appears to be 1913, 200
acres at the present time. 1t Is probable
that these figures are fairly accurate, and
they will stand as the acreage OF winter
wheat, subject to modification from substi'
tuition Of other crops on winterkilled areas,
or from more complete information con-
corning districts not fully represented.
In the Middle and Western States seed
ing commences in August and continues to
the middle OF November, with an extreme
range OF three months or more, the average
date coming in the latter half OF sePtem'
Der. In the South It begins in September
and continues through December, its aver
age date usually coming in the first week oil
November. There is considerable varla:
ton caused by the condition Of the soil. 1t
Is necessary in times OF severe drought to
wait till heavy soils are softened by the au-
tumn rains. The returns OF the Middle
States make almost exactly the same aver
age dates as last year. In the Southern
Atlantic States the average was few days
later last fall than in 1881. In Texas seed
ing was rather later than usual, from the
pressure of cotton.picking. In West Viz.
ginia there was delay in sowing, on account
OF wet weather. Farther west, in Kentucky
and Ohio, droughts were prevalent, retard'
ing termination and growth.
The condition OF winter wheat is lower
than for several years. Such Is the indi'
cation from superficial view obtained
through the snow in northern attitudes
and from the first observation OF blackened
blades in lower ATTITUDES. 1t is best where
snow has covered the ground during the
winter. New York and Michigan cores
ponden,s therefore receive higher figures
than others in the middle belt, where alter.
nations in temperature, alternate snow and
rain, freezes and thass by turns, are more
Injurious in their effects. The far South
has not been exempt from spells OF frost,
sleet, and snow to degree reducing below
the average the April condition Of wheat.
There has been an unusual quantity OF
snowfall in the lower ATTITUDES. Counties
in Maryland report some protection from
snow. The correspondent in Henry county,
Virginia, near the North Carolina line, re-
ported twelve inches depth Of snow, the
result Of la!e and almost unprecedented
storms in March. Snow scarcely remains
long enough in this middle belt to afford
protection to wheat.
In the Ohio Valley winter protection had
been partial for term locally varying
from three to ten weeks, after which the
loss from freezing was quite general. The
average depreciation isgreater in the upper
part Of the Ohio Valley and Kansas than
elsewhere. East Of the Alleghanies condi-
ton is good in the northern belt, declining
slightly in lower ATTITUDES. Iii is not up to
the average in any part Of the South. The
general average for the crop is 50. Last
April it was l04; in 1881, So.
The most observing reporters have ex-
amined the roots, and in many cases found
them healthy, while the plants are brown.
There is good reason for believing that the
real condition Of wheat is therefore less
unpromising than it seems.