The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-14
LOW PRICE OF WHEAT.
CAUSES FOR THE DECLINE IN THE
PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT.
First and Chief Has Been the Railroad
Extensions, Another Reason Is the Inn
provement In Machinery.

Wheat sold on June Goth on the New
York Produce Exchange at IS IL cents a
bushel, 2l IL cents less than the average
price during 1892, and the lowest price
since 1851. This remarkable fail is. Of
course. due in the main 20 the financial
stringency, which forces borrowers who
are hOl ling what, 10 sell at any price
they can get. The pressure upon them is
heightened by the large surplus from last
years harvest, some ninety million BUSH
els. IN face Of the new crop about to
come In. Apart from this cause of de-
preston, apart from sympathy with the
decline Of silver which has brought down
50 much else, wheat has fallen In price
during the past decade for no other
reason than that the cost OF its produc-
ton and transportation has fallen. In
lsS2 and 1883 the average price Of wheat
I'm New York was sl2S; I'm 1856 SO cents;
in 1851, 90 cents; I'm 1890, q cents; In 1891,
when European harvcsts failed. sl.0S.
Last years quotations began at sl.05 l-2.
closed at Il II cents, and averaged 80
cents for the twelve months. one year
with another, wheat farming must pay as
not be followed. What influences distinct
from those OF the money market, have
been bringing down the value Of wheat2
First and chief among them have been
the railroad extensions, which have
opened up immense stretches OF new
wheat lands. especially I'm the Northwest.
where the length Of the summer day
more than compensates for the shortness
Of the season. and where Scotch Fyfe.
Blue Stem and other sterling varieties
thrive as nowhere else. The recently
completed Great Northern railroad has
brought into the market millions Of acres
Of land. offered on terms which bring
the cost Of raising n bushel Of wheat 10
point which gives pause 10 the producer
in the OvercrOpped regions OF the Middle
and Southwestern States. And new rail-
roads, built with steel rails OF new
cheapness. are able 70 bring grain 10
markets at freghts which grow steadily
smaller. while water transport on whale
backs and other monster lake craft. com
petes by It's constantly lowered toll
Next. as a cause for the cheapness OF
wheat. must be named mechanical adj
vance along another line-in the improve
ment Of farm machinery and its more
general use. To-day on prairie farms,
gangs Of four plows are not uncommon.
Shoe-drills. wider than ever, harnessed to
four horses, SOW as many as twenty-six
rows Of grain at once. automatically
pressing by chain or wheel the earth
around the seed in such wise as best 10
favor termination. In the West and
Southwest the lister does better work
than the dri1l on irrigated land It's mo-
tlon initiates that Of a shovel, the ma
chine digging n shallow trough. dropping
I'm the seed and covering it uD with sur
passing neatness. Haryesters and self
binders have been gradually improved un-
IN in the latest models there is no risk
Of unsetting on n hillside or Of sinking
in soft or swampy soil. Machines OF IN .
pattern are turned out of n single factory
at the rate Of one a minute during every
working day. Between dawn and dusk on
a Minnesota farm machine has cut and
1 ind twcnty-fOur acres OF wheat. twen-
ty-f0lc quicker than the farmer could DO
IL without mechanical cid. and ingenuity
Of the process eliminating I'm the motions
q the steel finger which ties the knot In
the tWine Of each sheaf more simply than
the human hand can do f.. Within ten
years steel has been gradually replacing
wood I'm farm machinery; to-day, save I'm
its shafts and revolving arms, the har-
vester and sclf-binier is Of steel through
out But here as elsewhere, the inventor
finds e 20 his advantage 20 revise MS
practice by experience duold, In mowers.
the vibrating pitman, when made OF
hickory Outasts q dozen made of steel.
With this onpparadox 10 puzzle over. the
manufacturer finds his machines at all
points bettered In design by the change
from wood to steel Taking a Int from
the grain stalk. he makes his frames In
the strongest form possible that OF hollow
tubes: but that he may perfectly cecure
the angular joints he adopts square IN
stead OF circular tubing. All this r'eans
ease I'm working a machine that has
good form ard rgidly keeps 1t, and II
means fewer adjOurnments TO the black
smiths shop for repairs Parts liable 10
wear are now sold by manufacturers az
nominal prices and with wrench ana
screw-driver any handy man can replace
old with new I'm few minutes Inc
canny Scot who invented the chilled IRON
nlow. and has made a million and a half
such plows. supplies a favorite make with
new noses at forty cents apiece. In per
fecting the outlines Of all varieties OF his
nlow be has let the wear Of the metal
show him lust where curve might with
advantage be modified.
In descending the scale OF price. farm
machinery has kept wheat company \
farmer In Minnesota or either Dakota can
buy n plow. a tedder a rake. a seeder. a
harvester and self-binder for from 500
~ si0O according 90 size. quality and dis
tance from the railroad, and he needn't
have money 10 DO IL with either il ne
knows his business and is trustworthy
tr,st 6 extended and at moderate rates
~ interest. II his farm IS not large
ono, Oh 70 warrant his getting thresher
ora cleaner Of his own he can Join a
c1ub and share with his neishbors the
use OF machine easily despatchlng TWO
bushels n minute
While field machinery has been increaS-
,,1 the quantity Of a farmers "heht
cron n ras been improving its qualty'
IN All ATTITUDES. efficient machines prac-
tlcallv double the duration Of good wealth
or. IN northerly regions. liable 10 trosts
late I'm the spring and early In the lal'
sowing and harvesting can be pressed ih
the nick OF time Rust. that pest for
which there IS no known cure, can In
measure be prevented by
sowing on the earliest day possible.
Here we touch another cause or diinin-
ished cost In wheat raising. namely ad-
vance I'm agricultural science. AZ the
Minnesota stations, for example, IT has
been proved that the careful cleaning OF
seed and the keeping 10 single variety
I'm the planting. have had the effect OF
Increasing the yield Is to p bushels 10 the
acre. while the crop has matured all az
once. an important point where quick
harvesting machinery is used In 1887