Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-09-13
FOREIGN CROP OUTLOOK.
A CabIegram Which Says the Old
World Must Import an Enormous
Amount of Wheat.
Wretched Crops in France and Ger
many-A Review Ofthe Home
Outlook.

| Old World needs from IO,OUO,OUO 80 SO,-
| 100000 bushels of wheat more than the
harvests of the year viii produce. To
put it IN another way, the countries
which always have TO puy wheat must this
year buy some 370,OCO,O00 bushels, while
the countries raising more than they con-
sumo will have about 265, 100000 bushels
| to sell. The annual international grain
market, held in vienna on Monday, gave
estimates of the yield of the world, which
varied only in few particulars from
| those already given, the chief differences
being in unimportant countries. On the
other band, the real state of the French
harvest seems much worse than reported
at Vienna, and the same is even more
obviously true of England. Yesterdays
terrific storm of wind and rain ended
| whatever chance remained of decent
crops in Great Britain and the English
must now import at least 17O,OOO,00O
bushels.
France, which next to the United
States is the greatest wheat producer IN
the world, has one of the worst crops
ever reaped,
THE SHORTAGE is PUT AT so, 100000 BUSHELS
by the Mercuriale des Hailes, an6 at g.
100000 by 8ollack, Sarassin d Co. What
makes the matter worse is that, If any, of
his can be made good by AIgiers, where
the grasshopper5 have decimated the
crop.
Germany, Italy and the Netherlands
must buy more wheat than usual this
year of the great exporting countries.
We understand here that the United
States and Canada can be counted on to
supply about 103 100000 bushels, Russia
But in these latter countries there is much
more uncertainty than in the former.
From Russia, for instance, there are all
sorts of reports, latterly quite unfavor-
able, and from India it is even more diff
cult to get the ruth. But trained experts
here believed the above figures to be toll
| erably correct. In any case, If these
crops turn out larger than here estimated,
the daily Increasing evidence of bad
quality ana light weight of crop in West
ern Europe will quite balance the gain.
with such huge deficit as this in the
worlds market, equal to the entire wheat
crop in assgood year of such country as
Germany, it is evident that somebody
must cut down the consum ption of bread,
and that there will be fierce competition
for the possession of the grain markets
on the continent, which have been show
| ing al almost STEADY rise for the last ten
days, with few fluctuations resultant upon
declines in America. AS a rule prices
have been higher, and advances sharper
in Paris than elsewhere, but yesterday
London and some English provincial
markets distanced any other squirt Of the
season by sudden advance Of from 6 to
8 cents per bushel upon last weeks price
| for foreign wheat. This panic was palp-
pably due to the drenchipg rain and
heavy wind storms, as in places where
the rain was not violent prices showed
less change.
1.-THE wheat market in England is still
curiously parochlal affair, dependent
upon all sorts of local conditions and in
luences. Liverpool generally follows
New York and San Francisco, but London
is more concerned in the Baltic trade and
not so easily moved by American quota
tions, and provincial markets, like Leeds,
Rochester and Newcastle on-Tyne, think
most of the local crops and demand.
Hence prices for the past week have been
much affected by capricious weather, a
bright day frightening buyers, heavy
rain stiffening sellers; but yesterdays
storm has SO Knocked out what remained
of the English crop that this can not
longer be the case. Already we catch a
glimpse of what the wheat shortage means
by the discovery that bread has gone up
a penny on quarter loaf in many parts
of London since Monday
"The Northern workhouse.
AUTHORITIES HAVE THEIR HAND
with a quantity of Irish laborers, who are
accustomed to come to England for the
harvest. This year they find no work for
70 an hn Iph
means with which to get home.
''What adds to the sinister aspect of the
outlook is the sad failure of the potatoe
crop in many parts of England and along
the west coast of Ireland. This alone
would have made bad winter here. COM
bined with dear bread, it is a gloomy
enough outlook.
lone of the first results of the shortage
will be a vigorous demand in France for
remission of the import duty Cd wheat
on the part of big towns, and strenuous
resistance by wheat raising districts
where the farmers see no reason why the
tariff should not enable them to profit by
the distress of their brethren in the
towns
I The Times, also prints many columns
of crop reports from all parts of the
United States. In an editorial summary
of them 1t says:
"Judging from our special reports from
the wheat producing States published this
morning, the United States will not be in
position to furnish very much of the
| 10000, 900 or so, 100000 bushels Of wheat,
which, according to our London CORE
spondent, will be required to meet the
deficiency caused by poor crops in
the old world. The weather has been un-
favorable here, as in Europe, to large
harvests of the principal food cerea., but,
| so far as can be learned, We shall have
ample wheat for home consumption, with
| possibly some, if not great deal to spare
to supply a portion of the demand across
| the ocean. Indiana and Wisconsin ap-
pear to be the only States in which the
yield is above the average and can be con-
sldered really great one. In Ohio the
crop is reported to be not over 60 per
cent. of the average and of inferior quail
ity; in Illinois the quality is not high
though the quantity harvested is satisfac,
tory, and in Kansas q loss of fully one
third has been sustained by the negli-
gence Of the farmers in protecting what
promised to be fine wheat crop. With
the suffering expected in England and
the rise in the price OF bread already
made there on account of the failure of
the wheat crop, and in anticipation of the
certain scarcity of that cereal in the i'm
mediate future, the United States is to be
congratulated upon the amount of vhea9
really harvested in this country. If we
cannot feed the world. it is pleasant ia
/ know that we can feed ourselves.