Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-06-03
Grains in the Northwest.
Minneapolis Correspondence Omaha HeraI

Grains in the Northwest.
Minneapolis Correspondence Omaha Herald.
The outlook for crops in the northwest
! has never been more favorable than al
present. With the exception of a few
weeks of rainy weather in Nebraska and
| Iowa, the conditions for seeding have
been all that could be desired, and spring
wheat was put into the ground early and
under the most favorable circumstances
Reports from over 900 correspondents
covering every county in Minnesota and
Dakota, and the principal grain-raising
counties of Iowa and Nebraska, have lust
been received. From these reports it is
learned that seeding in Minnesota and
Dakota was commenced fully two weeks
earlier than last year, and with the ex-
ceptiOn of three days heavy rain during
the last week in April, the work was unin-
terrupted. The ground was very dry.
little snow or rain having fallen in Dako-
ia, particularly, since last fall. The bulk
of the crop was down IN the dust, and
the rains came just in time to sprout the
seed promptly and give the plant good
start. Last year the season was Yery
rainy, particularly in southern Minnesota,
up to the 9Th Of May, and great deal of
wheat was sOwn after that time. The
weather was cold all during the entire
month of May, and in some of the older
counties the seed which had been sown in
the mud lay in the ground weeks before
sprouting. This year the season is re-
markedly forward, and grain sprouted al
most as soon as sOwn. In northern and
central Dakota wheat is now from two to
four inches high, and the growth is
strong and vigorous. In northern Mime
sofa and Dakota the season was not so
early, although seeding will be finished by
May TO- fully one week earlier than last
year, even in the most unfavored lOcalit-
les. The acreage last year in Minnesota,
as reported by the agricultural depart
ment was 3,048,O00, with an average OF
eleven bushels per acre, making total
crop of 100000. This year the acreage
will be nearly 100000 greater, and present
indications point to yield fully as large
as that of 1884, when the total crop was
100000 bushels on 100000 acres. In
some of the older counties the acreage
has decreased by reason of farmers
changing for flax, large crop of which
was raised last year. The increase is due
almost entirely to the opening up of new
ground. The crop of the northwest was
marketed early last fall at about the high
est prices of the year, and the low prices
which have prevailed since December
have not deferred from seeding a large
area. There is marked increase also in
the acreage of corn and oats, but a de-
crease in fax. The latter crop is very
exhaustive to the soil, and the farmers
find it more profitable to limit the pro-
ductiOn of this cereal to about two years
at time. The increase on the acreage
of corn will be fully 10 per cent. over
that of last year.
In Dakota fully II per cent more land
will be devoted to wheat than there ever
was sown before. A large amount of new
breaking has been done, and while many
farmers in the older portion of the terri
tory are going more into coarse grains,
grass and stockraising, the decrease from
this cause is more than offset by the new
land opened up. The wheat acreage re-
ported by the agricultural department
last year was 3,187,OOO, an average yield
of 1913 bushels, making total crop of
38,0OO,000. From the reports obtained
from every county in the territory it is
estimated that the acreage is fully II per
cent larger, making total of nearly q
100000. The condition of the crop at
this time as compared this time last year
is 35 per cent better. With yield equal
to that of last year Dakota will raise near
ly 100000 bushels of wheat this year.
Barring accidents and with favorable
weather from now till harvest it is safe to
say that the yield of Minnesota and Da-
kota combined will reach nearly 7O,OOO,-
900 bushels. The amount of old wheat
held by farmers in Minnesota is very
small, except in the older settled counties
in the southern part. Of $50 reports re-
ceived 80 say there is none; so say Every
little;'' so say from 10 to &c per cent: 25
says so per cent. or more; 5 say 40 per
cent, and Is say considerable" Some
farmers still have 2-year- old wheat in their
bins, but the recent decline IN the markets
has induced them to sell freely, and it is
believed that very little old wheat will re-
main on hand at the end of the present
crop year. In Dakota the movement has
been quite large, and farmers bins are
pretty well cleaned out. Of 80 re-
ports received 120 say there is very little
on hand; forty-six say 10 per cent; thir
teen say Is per cent; fifteen say more
than Is per cent. and fifteen say ''consid-
cradle" In spite of the recent rains and
cool weather of Northern Iowa and Ne
braka seeding is practically finished. Re
ports from seventy-fVe counties show
that the outlook for a prosperous season
and a large yield is excellent. The warm
weather of the last ten days has started
wheat growing rapidly and the stand is