The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-08-09
HOPE FAST FADING.

HOPE FAST FADING.
'armerf' Spectators. and Railroad Me,
alarmed at the Prospect.
The corr crop last year was worth
s~cOV,VVo,VOO on the farm-almOst three
ZINES as much as the farmers got for
Ihelr wheat crop; and last years crop
was a conn., aratlvely small one and the
average farm price was low, 81 cents.
an looI the corn crop was worth $500.
oVO,ooO 10 the farmers. The corn crop Is
IS all the other grain crops nut to:
gether: sometimes worth a GOOD deaI
more than all the others put together
1t is no wonder, c~onseouentIv. that
the prospect having within two weeks
suddenly changed from one for a full
corn yield to one for. a corn failure.
everyone is excited, grain speculator'
railroad manager. stock Spectator and
mercha.. t.
Inc government report issued July
40 indicated a cor yield of more than
2,OOO,OOt,O 900 bushels. The acreage was
put at 5000, co.,; the condition. very
high. Only once was the creage any
larger, in 1889, and that year saw the
breaking yield, :, lip, 600, 900
bushels.
Up to the middle of July there
seemed nothing to maj the promise of
the most important crop of the coun-
try. There had Teen dry weather.
but a drought can last a long while
without creating any alarm. 1t is only
alter one hope lOr rain after another
has been disappointed that the farmer
begins to worry, and only alter the
farmer has told Of his fears for a week
or o that the Spectator, rail, oader
Or merchant begins to borrow trouble.
Semi-panic Over the Corn Crop.
But now every interest, from the
first to the last, is in a semi-panic over
the corn crop which began with such
amazing promise and which has now
APP arenlly been almost overtaken With
disaster.
I'VE don't dare to say, said General
Manager st. John, of the Rock Island
Railroad, how bad we believe the corn
situation to be. Half which the great
granger roads hauDtakes its origin from
the corn crop. There lis the grain it.
self, about 400, 00Q, 900. bushels, being
hauled by the roads; 100, 900, 600 bush.
els of it to Chicago alone in good years.
There are the hogs and the cattle,
both dependent on the crop. II
is not any wonder that the railroad
officials are afraid to tell all
their fears; nor any wonder that
the shrewd ones in Wall street are
getting out Of their holdings of the
great corr roads, the Burlington, the
Rock Island and the others. The YES
sci men get three-quarters of their
tonnage from Chicago from this crop.
The elevator owner knows it is the
grain which pours into Chicago all
winter to pour out again in the spring
at the opening Of navigation. Tho gen.
eral merchant is we'll aware that a cur
tailment of the important crop of the
country, which feeds the live stock
and furnishes all the carriers the bulk
Of their tonnage, cannot be cut short
without cutting down the purchasing
power Of that part of the country
which makes 6 1o1 simes or bad--the
West"
Iowa Crops Nearly Rmined.
The drought has been severest in
Iowa and Nebraska, the two States
which raise usually about 400, O00, DOC
bushels of corn, about 'one-fourth the
entire yield. There has been dry
weather everywhere In Illinois, Mis-.
souri,, Kansas, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and
Nebraska; but there has been partial
relief of late except in the two biggest
States. Half this crop is made in the
seven States named and q quarter in
the two States where the heat and
drought have been the forrest.
Nobody in Chicago" says James
Windsor, the w~ell-knOwn Des Moines
porkpacker, appreciates the condition
of things in Iowa. There is no saliva
ton left for the largest part OF the
corn. 1t is dead. The heat and
drought have been enough even to XII!
the hay. On my farm, where had
800 tons Of hay last year, | cut forty
five tons this year."
Rain would, OF cours e, relieve the
situation everywhere. Even in Iowa
and Nebraska there would be a rem
nant saved, possibly 200, 900, 900 bush
els, where 40, coo, 200 was originally
promised. Illinois has had the most
rain and is in the best condition. Inc
ac. cage in Kansas is very largo u
showers there have helped to relieve
the e~xiyency. But rain delayed o
every twenty-four hours means millions
more corn lost. That is why the signal
service map is the center of interes,
early each morning, and why
weather predictions are scanned SO
eagerly each noon, and why special dis,
matches from the corn States are rea0
first of all each morning.
w. l.. BAKER. manager and one OF
the proprietors of the Albracea Hotel.