The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-08-15
CORN Is ABOVE WHEAT
For the First Time In Our History In
dian Corn
SELLS HIGHER THAN WHEAT.

Corn sold on Friday = cents bushsl
higher than whss; and early in the week
il waz cents bashei higher. This i
the first time IN cur history since i price
was made for corn snd wheat that the fer
mer HIS ever sold higher than the latter
I7rom tile very h. eginning wheat has been
higher. \ century ago the price tables
collected by Carroll c. WTigh; shows
vhea; WAS lust about ssvice The price Of
corn. In l7s3, for instance. a barrel Of
-four sold in Boston Tor about - and tar
rel Of meal for about 81 The same ratio
has been kept up ever since. In ls57 the
export price OF corn was 81 bRshel and
Of wheat only sI.27, bat they have rarely
been - nearly Of price since. and in
general The price Of eorn has run along
from - 70 90 per cent Of the price Of wheat.
Even year ago corn averaged in ex-
por1 almost exactly one half the price Of
wheat and both came close to being one
lislf their price twenty-five years before.
For a year past corn has been rising and
wheat falling until whest reached last
week the lowest recorded price 0f all
time. al - aud - cents busbei-it has
since risen eenfs-while corn at q cents
Is hack 70 a range rivaling the higher
prices Of the past twenty years, in which
il hss offen been higher. but never. nor
for four centuries since corn was first
seen by European eyes higher than
wheat
This economic revolution, for il Is little
else. Is Of course due to the damage the
corn crop has sustained from the not winds
Of July This country, when all is we'll
raises 2,oo.OOaOeD bushels Of corn For
two years il has only raised a three quar-
ter crop. In ISL. when like winds pareh-
ed the ground and dried the yellow silk
until the corn blasted in the ear, only a
two-thirds crop was harvested. and when
il was marketed the tidal wave Of ISL
swept the country. In fact short corn
crop years are almost invariably attended
by political tidal waves" No man or
party. President OF Congress, ever gets
any credit for managing the country right
when the corn crop fails-ls74, Iss2, lSso
and lS1 all came ON the heels of short
corn crops
The surprising thing is that while corn
has risen 80 rapidly this summer and for
twenty years past has maintained its
price in the markets Of the world very
evenly, " heat has fallen over one-half
Corn i lower than in the early seventies,
but only a little lower. Wheat Is only
about - per cent Of it, price then This
i because the worlds production OfwheAt
mas grown rather faster than the worlds
production Of Indian corn.
Theworld's average production Of whest
as given by our Agricultural department
a year ago was : 2-'l sssi. rs bushels Null
hall gives-there might be a better au-
thority only there i nOt-the worlds
wheat crop in IS3l-40 a. e9,O0,0oo bush
els. in lS5l-O0 I.las,gJ0, and ls7l-So a.
l, "a. .O0a,el0 The steady increase has
gone on good deal faster than popula-
ton. Europe to-day raises more wheat
per head than half 4 century ago, and
Western Europe imports besides 24S,cpe,- :
90 bushels, Of which very little was inn
ported sixty years ago when there were
years that our own seaboarti cities i'm
ported wheat and Massachusetts paid
bOunties for its cultivation.
This increase Of over one-fourth IN the
past ten years OF 80 Of oOurse shows why
wheat is down. Now corn has noi grown
nearly - fast. In lSo the worlds crop
was. taking our Agricultural Department
figures, 2.n3.U74. IA bushels Spaliart
gives the average crop ls7I-s0 at l,ilss, 90,
on. and in ls75-s5. ten years ago, il WAS
l,g56. 6.0a,9na and in IsS3-i il was a. large
a. now, or 203l.01a09 Bushels The
worlds crop ten years ago was just about
as large a il IS now, though the demand
Of the world for the pork and other meats
into which corn Is turned has greatly in
creased