The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-01-06

The outlook for farmers In this coun-
try Is decidedly favorable. Secretary OF
Agriculture Morton thinks. The seere-
tary, IN a bulletin over his signature
issued last Saturday. said:
"The outlook for the American Tar
mer in 1897, judging from present In
dications. Is decidedly encouraGing
while It Is OF course impossible thus
early TO predict as 20 the size and quail
ity Of his crops. there are good grounds
for believing that the demand Tor
some OF the products of American agri-
culture to be harvested next autumn
win be exceptionally strong and ac-
tive, with prices correspondingly high
This Is especially true as regards
wheat.
''The year just closing has witnessed
a shortage OF unusual extent IN the
wheat crops Of several Of the cliet
wheat growing countries OF the worIG.
The great Russian empire which
ranks next 70 the United States IN I'M
portance as country OF whent supply
has produced this season largely d.
unfinished crop. while India and Austria
la. other leading sources OF Supply
have actually changed from exporting
10 importing countries. Tho next wheat
crop OF Australia will be harvested IN
January, and the indication now point
10 n product far below the average.
The same is true OF the coming crop OF
india. 10 be gathered in April. Phe re-
ports received from Argentina and sew
eral other countries are also untaVof-
81. aprtlgF-
ring simultaneously In different coun-
tries. have caused 4 scarcity in the
wheat supply not experienced for
years, and the result IS marked ad-
vance IN the price Of this important ce-
real.
Tie Wheat StrlmGcncy.
"As the amount OF wheat az present
available in the world Is 50 far short OF
probable requirements, 1t IS fair to pre-
sumo that the reserve stocks that
would under normal conditions be car
rlcd over into next season viii be very
much diminished This win undoubt-
eddy create an Increased demand upon
the forthcoming crop, TO the great oen-
eff of the farmer.
zone of the natural result OF the pre-
sent wheat stringency Is 4 heightened
demand for other breadstuffs. The
high price OF wheat Is already causing
a more liberal use OF such cereals as
may be substituted for It, among them
the great American grain. indian corn.
According to, the New York Journal OF
Commerce, atcarSo OF 10000 bushels OF
corn was shipped the present month
from Philadelphia 10 India, the first
cargo ever sent to that country from
the United States. Several instances
of like nature have been reported, and
the returns already received are sufti-
Client to show thar our total exports o.
corn this year viii prove TO be greater
than ever before. There Is every rea-
son to hope that the beginning thus
made will lead to still larger export
alton Of this cereal in the future. The
outlook for corn In the United states
during the coming season Is rendered
even more favorable by the fact that
the prospective maize crop of Argen-
tine bids fair to be an unusually poor
one"
Prices Of Farm Products.
To the aEricuiturists of the country,
the most gratifying figures in the sta
tistics for the calendar year viii be
those showing the Increased prices
obtained or prevailing for two staple
products-whea and potatoes. For all
other products OF the farm, the prices
have been lower than they were in the
preceding year. Henry a. Robinson, the
statlsticIan OF the department of agri-
culture has prepared some info.ma-
tlon showing the prevailing farm prices
for the year. and they are highly In
teresting unavailable. As compared
with 1895, The average price per bushel
OF corn was PA TO .2j5. The average
price OF wheat was .727, as against sos
last year. Rye was 400. as agalnst 40
IN 1895. Oats In 1895 averaged .1gs; In
1895 the average price was 1S6. Po-
tatoeswere In 1895 .966; I'M 1886, PSI. In
1895 the average price OF hay was IS 30
per ton: In 1895 the average price was
Sc 80 per ton. Tobacco, In 1895, aver
aged O60 per pound; I'm 1896 the aver
age price was .06 per pound. Cotton,
averaging .O76 in 1895, averaged .O66
IN 1896.
The following table shows ct a
glance the average farm prices OF pro-
ducts for the two years, together with
the percentage OF increase OF decrease
in the average prices:
AVERAGE FARM PRICES OF GER
TAIN FARM CROPS. DEC. ], 1886
COMPARED WITH THOSE OF 1895
Not aaN