Arizona republican., 1898-12-16

valley, has also been a losing year in
 the inadequacy of the supply of barley
 and alfalfa to meet even the home de-
 mands, without taking in.o considera-
 tion the calls from the large mining
 camps all about the valley Shipments were discontinued almost two months
 ago to Bisbee, Nogales, Pearce, Globe,
 Jerome, Prescott and all other places
 that have received barley and alfalfa i from this valley.
 We could have sold 30,0OO ,000 pounds of barley at a good price if we had had it to sell" said John Y T. Smith to a reporter for The Republican yesterday. "The visible supply in the
 valley at the present time would not
 last two weeks if the price of barley
 was SIPS a hundred pounds instead of
 $1.65. but the feeders are using
 wheat and corn which is less expensive
 and also less satisfactory. 1 do not
 know the exact amount Of barley in the
 valley at this time, but it is not as
 much as it was year ago now. In an
 interview I gave The Republican year
 ago I advised the ranchers to increase
 the acreage O. barley, predicting that
 the price of barley would go up to high figure. The acreage was not ma
 terially increased, owing, perhaps, to a fear among the ranchers that there would not be enough water for them.
 This year, however, there is no ground for such fears. The rains have been bountiful in the mountains and throughout the valley. The ground is in better condition than it has been for years, and the conditions on the whole are unusually favorable. There have been no rains in southern California, and the ranchers there are holding off
 l s- !, Ifsthey do not get their crops in by the last of this month or the first week of January they will suffer in the spring by the heat and they are lia-Sic to nave all their crops burned up. The indica- tions, I think, are more favorable now than they were q year ago at this time, and I think if the ranchers are wise they will put in three times the amount of barley that they put into the ground ! last fall
 '%The acreage last fall was between ! eight and ten thousand on both sides ] of the river. I believe the acreage this l fall should be between twenty and twenty-five thousand, and there will be l good prices for every bit of grain | raised. This will give us 50,000,00O i pounds with 25,O00 acres seeded, plac ing the yield at 2,OO0 pounds to the acre, which is conservative with favor able conditions. If the valley had pro duced this amount this year every pound Of it could have been sold long before this time at high price. Today he price asked for whole barley in the is S1.45 ,o $1.50 a hundred. Alfalfa hay is we. n from $950 to S10 ton Rolled barley is quoted at S1 65, md with 25 per cent wheat is $1.55. The price of wheat at the present time is rom $1 to SIPS hundred according to he grade, of which there are three Sonora, Club and Australia. It has been long time since such prices as these lave prevailed here. The conditions { Il California have made these prices to z
 great extent, and .he ranchers should I ,eep a close eye on that state. If I cad the signs right these prices will f 'revail again next year, and I advise f he ranchers to plant all the barley hey can, just as 1 advised them year go I have been in the grain business n this valley for twenty-five years, and
 have watched the progress from year 9 year with profit. I do not have any ersonal ends to serve in giving this dvice to the ranchers. I simply give to them for what they think it is -Orth, anG for the benefit of the valley mich has come to be looked upon as he supply station for a large scope of I srritory. There is no question but hat all of 5O,000,0O0 pounds of bar