The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-10
,NRIDAY. September 10, 1897.
SOME FACTS ABOUT WHEAT PRODUCTION

Come Of orr Northern gold contempt
VARIES are in quandary about what 10
NV about the rise in the price of wheat.
At FIRST they hailed it as proof of the ex-
oa,lence of the gold standard. When the
working people in the cities began TO
complains Of the big increase IN
tho cost of their bread. those
napers suddenly discovered that
It is .'only a part of America that has
wheat to sell, and that the rest of the
American people are in the position OF
Tho European consumer" The Charleston
News and Courier showing the increase
in the price Of bread. says:
.The strictly local view Of the case is
very clearly presented in the calculations
Of a baker of Greenville, which are print
ed in the News of that city. Estimating
that there are 5000 persons in Greenvilie,
he saws, the cost Of the -four bread eaten
by them in day now lis 1924, as against
1894 before the rise in prices, or diff
ference of about $1,000 in year. What
this means to consumers is shown In the
further statement that where % cents
purchased eight loaves of bread hereto
fore it purchases only six loayes today.
Restaurants and hotels get seven loayes
instead of nine Cakes have gone up five
cents pound, and pies and rusks have
made the same leap as loaf bread The
same changes, in effect, have probably
been made everywhere, although IN some
places the plan has been pursued Of re-
ducing the weight of the loayes instead
Of increasing their price. The price OF
-four has risen, and the consumer, of
course, must pay the difference in some
way, whether he knows it or not"
The increase in price is even more keen
" felt abroad. The price Of bread is ris-
ing slowly in London, and the outlook
for the winter is OF the gloomiest kind.
This city requires 10000 quarters of for
eign wheat weekly, independent Of -four,
and during August less than $4,000 quar-
tiers are used per week. Not one-tenth Of
London's bread is made from English
-four, and the bakers assert that with
-four at the present figure loaf Of bread
at 51ad eleven cents) will send them into
bankruptcy.
Only nineteen States and territories OUT
OF forty-nine produce enough wheat for
their own consumption and these nine
teen contain only onethird of the coun-
try's population. The New England and
Middle States have to buy yearly seventy
million bushels Of wheat more than they
produce. The Southern States produce
only one-third Of the wheat they consume.
It is thus apparent that the good times
for the wheat farmers caused by the
small crop abroad does not mean good
times" but the very reverse, to the two
thirds Of the country which has to buy
from the third that raises a surplus.
1t ought not to be true of North Caro-
lima that it does not raise all the wheat
it needs for flour. We have abundant land
in the central and western sections Of
the State to proftably raise all the wheat
we need, and in most parts Of the east 1t
would pay the small farmers to raise
their own wheat. The erection OF good
mills in some parts of the State ought to
nave the effect Of stimulating the produc-
ton of wheat SO that every year we
should buy less -four made outside Of the
State, though the State Department of
Agriculture can give us no figures Of the
crop since 1890. The census figures show
that North Carolina raised more wheat
IN 1850 than in any year since the war,
the figures standing as follows:
Year. Bushels.
1850 213O 1O2
1860 ,4,743, FOG
1870 .2,S59,S79
1880 1897 1893
1890 a ,292,035
The Ohio gold Democrats will have no
trouble in securing enough names to their