Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1888-05-30

4
view OF the "New York Journal of Commerce"
Of the 23d instant:
| "The rise in wheat since March continues to
check Iexports, and unless marked decline
| comes exports are not likely to be largely re-
| Russia can supply the requirements of the
| United Kingdom. Commercial affairs in Eng
land and on the Continent are quiet. and are
not likely to be affected by either the unset.
| tied condition of French politics or the tempo
| rary agitation in England over its alleged de.
/ fenseless condition."
The well informed Chicago crop CORES pond
emit of the New York Journal of Commerce."
furnished few days since a lengthy review
of the condition of the crops in the west, from
which we make few extracts He says:
1--WE have not yet made up the deficiency of
moisture in the last two years. still insist
| that with present conditions to maintain them
| we must have frequent rains during the whole
growing season. For the life of me, cannot
see where the improvement in the winter
| wheat crop. which see some of the papers in
New York city are now telling about, has put
in its appearance. Certainly 1t is not in Cali
| fornia. for the prospects to-day were never as
poor on the whole crop. It is not in Texas.
for thirty days ago this State promised the
finest crop it has ever harvested for many
years. Heavy rain produced rust, and the
crop prospects at the present time are by no
means assured. Ny correspondents from Ten
nessee thirty days ago sent glowing accounts
of the wheat prospects in that State, but dry
weather for the past fourteen days has COM
pletely changed the very favorable outlook for
winter wheat in this State. Strawberries we
are now eating from Tennessee show plainly
the effects of the drought. and am not at all
surprised to hear of.such change for the worse
in Tennessee. Kentucky makes no better
showing than she did thirty days ago, and has
been subjected to identically the same climat-
ic influences of the winter wheat states north
of the Ohio river. and to-day the early-sown
wheat promises fair crop, but the late-sown
is badly winter-killed. We might as well lump
Ohio. Indiana and Illinois together, and re-
port from one OF the largest millers In Ohio
says; ~ have just been over the New York,
Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad to Marion,
Ohio, from there to Indianapolis over the Bal
timore and Ohio slime. After leaving Akron,
Ohio. wheat fields began TO look thin; the fur
ther went the poorer they got, until they got
SO poor they could get no poorer. In fact, 1
never saw SO many poor fields and SO few good
ones as 1 saw between Akron. Ohio. and In
dianapolis. Ind. The outlook bordering on
the Ohio river, notably Matheson and Evans
Vile, Indiana. also Yincennes, on the Wa
bash. all the way along the New York, Penn
sylvania and Ohio, especially west of Ash
land, o.. and on the Baltimore and Ohio is
equally poor; the majority of the fields are
worthless and cannot be redeemed by amy
kind OF weather, When you take into consid-
Grafton also the fact that during the last week
the wheat lands of the state of Illinois have
been utterly destroyed for the season by floods
it does not seem reasonable that any condi-
tions could have arisen to have brought to life
the winter wheat which commenced to die last
fall and has continued to do so in a more or
less degree ever since the frost was out of the
ground. Missouri and Kansas are both on very
ticklish ground. Both of these are infested and
have been all the spring with chinch. bugs.
They have already, to a limited extent, de-
stroyed some of the wheat. and they threaten
to destroy more. but have been and still held
In check by the cool weather and continuous
rains. The spring wheat seeding is now all
done. There are no prospects at present to re-
port further than the crop is in, is coming up,
plenty of moisture in some areas and a lack
of 1t in Others"
We are in receipt of the statistical report of
the Illinois State Board of Agriculture made
up to the lst May. The correspondents ofthis
board number six hundred. They arc mainly
reputable farmers of extensive experience who
are deeply interested In the accuracy of the re-
turns made to the board. There is a carefully
revised report from each county, which is
ppbished as 1t came from the correspondent.
Erom the whole, the board makes up sum.
mary from which we extract as follows, In re-
lation to winter wheat:
1.-THE May LIST condition of winter wheat
promises less than two thirds of an average
yield per acre. A large proportion of the wheat
seeded last Fall failed to germinats, owing to
the drouth, until so late in the season that 1t
had not the strength to Withstand the winter;
and as result, large area was winter-killed
and has been plowed up for summer crops.
AS the season advances, a still larger
area of wheat will be plowed up.'
The table furnishing the average condition of
the winter wheat lst May for several years
pnts this year at the lowest figure, II for the
Northern division, So for the Central, and 81 for
the Southern, which is almost as low as the
stricken fields OF 1885 exhibited.
An examination places Kansas and Virginia
of the winter wheat. States in the highest.::of
the estimates of yield per acre, according to
their respective averages.