The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-08-11
why Wheat Is Down.

A correspondent of the New York Sun
has prepared ascareful and elaborate pa
per ON the state of the wheat acreage
and market, 1t throws light ON the
question why the price of that staple Is
lower than 1t has been since 1745. In
addition it tends to cheer the Respondent
hearts of agriculturists by the assurance
that in year or two ut most the price
Of wheat will resume ats normal rate
and never again in our time drop 80 low.
In brief, the price of wheat Is down
because there is so much of 1t for sale;
there is 80 much Of it for sale because
the production has been in advance Of
the worlds needs. The production has
been in advance of the need mainly
because after our civil war an area un-
heard of before in history was thrown
open in the United States in few years
to cultivation, and it included some Of
the greatest wheat lands ON the globe.
During the 10 years following 1859, 90
per cent was added to the area of our
land under cultivation, and most Of it
was used for cereal production. Our
population increased in the same period
only As per cent. The Sun writer shows
from statistics gathered abroad that in
creasing the worlds wheat area 5 per
cent beyond the proportional increase of
population reduced the price Of the grain
20 per cent in the British market. The
growth Of the worlds bread eating popu-
latiolfin the seventies required an addi-
ton to the wheat area all over the globe
of 100000 acres, yet in that time the
United States alone added IL, 900, 900 to
the wheat acreage. Is it any wonder
prices fell?
Since 1884, however, the wheat acreage
relatively topopulation has been decreas-
ing. 1t has been decreasing absolutely
in the vicinity of the large cities every
where, the farm lands there being re-
quired for market gardening and dairy
purposes. But the supply Of wheat on
hand in 1882 was enormous, and a year or
two was required to consume the sur
plus. Then came colossal wheat crops in
1878. These carried the bread eaters on
till the harvests of 1912 The unh ard
Of cereal production in this country in
those years, added to the great crop in
Europe in 1882, swamped the world
again, and it has not yet recovered. We
entered ON harvest the present year with
an apparent reserve Of III, coo, 900 bushels
of old wheat still on hand. But the de-
mand will presently catch up " the sup
ply. The Sun writer says:
Such acreage Yields from American fields be-
ing hitherto unknown, it may be assumed that
they will but rarely be repeated, and the
worlds wheat area, with average yields, beil.s
now deficient l.y more than 100000 acres, n
average harvest will produce but 2,2s0,0Oo, .
bushels, while the requirements are now Z, 40,
0000N, and augm0nting at the rate of more
than %, 10000 bushels per annum rthe equiva-
lent of 100000 new acres. Therefore we MAJ
expect prices to advance to a remunerativa
level just as soon as existing reserves shall
have been consumed.
Prices having once reached such a level, q
continuance of their remunerative character
is practically assured by the probability that
such additions as are made to the wheat bear
ing area in the Balkan states and South Amer
lea will be more than neutralized by acreage
losses in western Europe and America.