Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-03-14
FUTURE or AMERICAN WHEAT
PRODUCTION,

II cioNo ktNot NhoukNot euu tuttSotSo sh"
the probable future wheat yield oi
America is altogether lmmeasurable.
do not mean that there Is promise o.
such 4 wonderful production at any
time In the future, a. TO be inca'culabl'
then-that would be unressonable-bu,
that the wheat prOductiveness OF thu
country has not been 50 fully tested nj
to admit Of guessing at, or Of approxi
mately figuring the Increased yield thai
will be harvested within the next ter
years.
cannot agree with those who declare
and seek TO prove by estimat's ant
figures, that America will soon become
an importing breadstuff country, for the
reason that such state OF affairs could
not be brought about until we had test
Ell all our resources OF soil and climate
aud failed to meet the home demands
which is. q condition so Improbable
within the time OF persons now living
at least, rs to seem unworthy Of serious
consideration. The most productive
wheat fields In America to-day, are
those that were not seriously though,
about at the beginning Of the decade
just closed. Ten years ago, no one
would have thought II possible for Kan.
sas farmers to ever produce In single
year as much as 30,O00,OO0 bushels OF
wheat, vet that state last year yielded
more than 6s,00O,OO0 bushels OF that
cereal, according to a most conserya.
tive report; and more than 7i,OOO,OOO
bushels according to the figures of the
Kansas state board Of agriculture. Much
less than ten wears ago, II was not
dreamed that Washington and Oregon
would ever harvest such crops as those
Of 1891 and ls92. No one thought OF rails
ing wheat In the Indian Territory, or
Texas until recently, and the man who
would have talked Of making living at
wheat growing In Colorado, Utah, or
Idaho, few wears since, would have
been laughed Mt by the foremost agri-
culturists In the land.
cite these former conditions, In order
to show that we cannot tell, or even
guess, Of the future development OF a
country so vast as this. Not long since,
it was freely asserted throughout what
Was called the West. that Kansas and the
Indian Territory and most Of Texas,
were only fit for cattle pastures. Since
then farmers have driven the ranchmen
almost from the Southwest, Kansas has
taken first rank among the wheat pro-
producing states, Oklahoma has gained
fame as wheat yielding territory, aud
rexas farmers have more than trebled
the wheat production Of the Lone Star
state.
Now Ii Il said that Montana and New
Mexico are only fit for cattle ranges.
That prediction IL on par with those OF
Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and Will
he refuted within the next five years.
rhe valleys of both New Mexico and
Montana, and all the uplands that can
possibly be irrigated, will become
famous for the excellence OF their agri-
cultural developments within the time
mentioned. There Il plenty OF wheat
Land vet To be developed In Colorado
md on the Pacific coast, aud even Ari-
roma and Wyoming will In time contrib
ute their share To the immense aggre-
gate Of the future American wheat har-
vest. In addition to all the vacant wheat
lands In the great West, II must not b@
forgotten, that, should the demand re-
auire Il, there Il much land In Illinois,
Indiana and Missouri, not to speak OF
the states east, that would be devoted To
wheat culture. IL must be remembered
that of late years cheap land and i'm
proved agricultural machinery have
made Il possible to produce wheat
cheaper In the western part Of the Unit
ed States than elsewhere, but that
should the demand warrant IL, aud
prices indicate that the farmers OF the
Central and Eastern states could make
more money by raising wheat than by
grazing their land they will produce
wheat, In even greater quantities than
formerly.
In addition to all the foregoing rea-
sous why the wheat production of this
country can be greatly increased, II
may be shown that as yet, American
farmers, particularly those Ia the great
wheat producing states Of to-day, have
never attempted scientific farming, or
sought by means of u judicious system
Of fertilization, to get all out OF the soil
that Is possible to make II produce. This
statement does not need proof, but III II
did, IL would only be necessary to show
that fields cultivated almost continuous
ly for the past century, which were well
taken care OF, produce as well now as
when the virgin soil was seeded, while
next to them are tracts Of land robbed
of their fertility by careless farming,
until they refuse to yield more than half
as much as they formerly did. IL will
be observed by q glance at the report OF
last years harvest yield, that washing
ton shows the largest yield OF wheat per
acre-twenty-one bushels-and Kansas
comes second with an average yield OF
eighteen bushels to the acre. The Ohio
farmer will not admit that Kansas soil
L. better than that In the Buckeye State,
nor will the Illinois farmer agree TO its
superiority, but the fact remains that In
Kansas more bushels ot wheat Will grow
upon an acre Of ground, on an average,
than anywhere else In America, except
In Washington. Had the soils Of the
Central aud Eastern States not been rob
bed of their wheat-yi.liing elements.
they would to-day produce as much
wheat per acre as they ever did, and
farmers who now do so would not have
the opportunity Of blaming their fields
for slim harvest Yields. In the years tn
come, when heat land becomes more val
uahle, aud when corn lands become more
limited, as now seems quite probable,
farmers will take better care OF their
fields, and the wheat production OF the
same area will be greatly Increased.
One does not have to 90 back far into
the past, to remember the supremacy of
the Northwest, as a wheat producing
territory. II still yields immense har-
vests annually, and will, doubtless, con-
tinue to do so, while In the Southwest,
a section of country no one thought OF
as ever attracting attention by wheat
production, the leading winter wheat
territory Of the new world IL recognized.
This year the farmers OF Kansas, Okla
homa, Nebraska and Missouri produced
more wheat than the farmers OF Minne-
sofa and the two Dakotas and Manitoba.
Within the past five years Kansas City
has become one of the foremost primary
wheat markets In the country; Duluth
has grown out Of sll semblance OF her
former self, a. q wheat market and
milling centre; Portland, Oregon, has
become a prominent grain market, and
San Francisco has greatly extended her
grain trade; Minneapolis mills have an-
nually increased their output, and Chica-
go Il not complaining Of q shortage OF
grain business. At the South two I'm
portant grain msrkets-New Orleans
and Galveston-have come to the fore
within the past two years. In fact, the
greatest proportionate growth OF all the
markets mentioned, save, perhaps, CHI
cago and Minneapolis, has been within
~. - a.