St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-13

Who sells what he does not own is
short seller, forestaller, a Spectator
and dangerous person; but vino har>
vests what he has not sOWn is-very often
"A wheat farmer and an honest man.
Certain it is that the present system of
wheat farming in the Northwest is a
pure speculation. A speculation, how
ever, may be advisable, if the profit OF
success be extreme, OF the risk of fail
ure slight. 1t cannot be said that, i'll
general. either OF these statements Is
true of the wheat crop.
A very high price has for some years
been exceptional, and the opening OF
new fields abroad, especially i'll the Ar
gentine Republic, will! doubtless tend to
depress the average price, IN the alb
sence Of war or famine.
The question Of yield is equally un-
certain. If a good crop were always
assured, the farmers risk would be
Iessened. But Minnesota is not Egypt
The agriculture of the Pharaohs was
self-regulated mechanism. The sun
shine was permanent, while the soil
and moisture were both renewed an
nually by the du;iful and systematic
Nile. Thus vast extent of the ancient
world was fed from the corn, i. e., the
wheat, of Egypt Rome herself was
long dependent upon her fruitful
province.
Yet the farmer has neglected the
manifold lessons Of the Scripture VINO
cannot recall can instance Of the un~
certainty of even the Egyptian wheat
crop. Joseph was the first and the last
man to issue reliable maTket-letter.
Had the agricultural constituents OF
that able politician been obliged to de-
pend upon the prophets Of CLARK street
or Mark lane, his internal policy would
have been rebuked by most appalling
landslide, before the close Of the seven
lean years.
In the Northwest at the present day,
moreover, the weather is as prolific OF
variety as of excellence. All that cam
not be predicted is what will not hap
pen. An attempt was one time made to
curb this heterogeneous climatic gem
crosby by the development of ralnmak-
ers. If successful, the latter would
have been but an adjunct of our future
sociallstic government, together with
the drouth Inspector, the frost agent,
and the solar commission. But, like
evolution and the Baconlan cryDtogram,
this pleasing possibility remains simply
possible.
Yet. undoubtedly, wheat has been at
times q source of great profit to the far
mcY. Its cultivation requires but little
manual labor; and, above all, its choice
is dictated by Fashion. monarch whose
domain is not confined to inflated
sleeves and football hair.
For wears the Wheat-raiser thought he
was wise, wien lie was only lucky.
This has happened before. He forgot
that every woman is treasure while
the honeymoon beams; every soldier a
hero until bnllets are received as we'll
as forwarded. When, however, the lean
kline made their appearance, it began to
be felt that even King Wheat was no
more invinclble than King Cotton.
When the worlds immense crops began
to depreSS prices, 1t was realized that,
though the Northwest may be the best
section of the earth, it is by no means
all the earth. and its smaller crop is not
necessarily followed by higher price.
The disappointment the loss, the pri-
Walton, that accompanied these discoY-
cries, are familiar.
Meantime. in most other localities
where wheat was lot the only crop. the
farmer continued prosperous. Even
the late commercial depression has but
little impoverished the agricultural
communities of the Middle states.
The urgent necessity and evident adj
vantage of diversified crops present
themselves every day to the attention
of the farming element in this section;
and the GLOBE is indebted to some Of
the highest local authorities for the fol-
lowing able and convincing papers upon
this essential reform.