The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-10

| only ulu UnlS DTOuuCJlbhs "
average, add to our store OF supplics l'2oo,-
100000 bushels Of wheat, but there was an
immense synchronous over'aVeraBe produc'
I tion OF rye, rs we'll as n great augmentation
of cxportable Russian SURPRISES OF wheat
and rye, by reason of a decline amounting
! to 1873 per cent. In the consumption OF
bread per head of the Russian population.
These extraordinary conditions served COM
plctcly to obscure the existing acreage de-
| felt; to deprcss prices to an remunera
| tive level and to store up great reserves that
| enabled the bread eaters OF 1870 to secure
abundant supplies, notwithstanding tho
fact that the wheat harvest Of that year in
"contributory areas" plus imports from
Asia and Africa, was ooo,o Dushels
below requirements. 1t served, also, TO
furnish all needed supplies in the le96-9'
harvest year, despite the fact That the
product from that years harvest In con
tributory areas" plus imports from Asia
and Africa, was 13S. 100000 bushels below
the years necessities,
We come to the year 1S97.9S, when the
food requirements of the 6lo,ooo,ooo
bread caters will aggregate 1.99O,OOO,OOo
bushels, willie, to meet these demands,
there will be, apparently, but 100000.
900 bushels, after setting aside 100000
600 bushels for seed. 1t follows that but
threc.fourths of the required bread can be
provided, unless larger drafts than now
seem possible can he made upon re-
serves already reduced 20 the lowest point
consistent with the safety Of the exporting
nations. That scarcity and high prices
have not prevailed in recent years is due to
the harvesting, since 1850, of seven world
crops Of wheat and six of rye, giving out
puts so much above the average as to result
In great accumulations that have served
to obscure the fact that the harvcsts OF
1895 and 1890 were each much below cur
rent requirements. As reserves will wholly
disappear ut the end of the year lS07-9S,
requirements must be met hereafter from
current harvests, further accumulation
being impossible.
To comprehend the present situation with
regard to breadstutrs and its bearing upon
the prospects of our Western farmers, the
following facts, brought out by Mr.. DAVIS,
must be kept steadily in view. First, al
though the worlds output of wheat in 1897
Is several hundred million bushels less than
the worlds requirements, acre yields have
been but little below the average. Secondly,
even an average yield from the acres now
employed would be 275. 100000 bushels
less than present needs, and the greatest
crop ever grown would not equal them.
Thirdly, although requirements for wheat
and rye progressively increase year after
year by more than 10000 600 bushels, not
an acre has been added to the aggregate of
the worlds bread bearing area since 1854.
Lastly, an acreage deficit exists equal to
the supply of as many bread eaters as have
been added to the worlds population in the
last twelve years.
We see, then, that there is no likelihood
that the worlds supply of breadstuffs will
ever again meet the worlds requirements,
unless, as we began by saying, Europeans
can be persuaded to eat bread made from
Indian corn or maize. There is no founda-
ton for the belief that the Trans Siberian
Hallway is about to open a vast region
adapted to the production of wheat and
rye. In all Siberia not more than 3d.
O00,0 900 acres can be regarded as cultivable,
and much more than half of these are
already employed in the production of food
staples. Mr.. DAvIs tells us that when the
Russian Minister of Ways and Communi-
cations, Prince HILKoFF, was in this coun-
never had produced, and never would pro.
ducc, wheat and rye enough to feed the
Siberian population.