Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-09-06
A BUMPER CORN CROP.
We Can Supply the World This Year,
and Next Too.

In the history OF cereal productions
there has never been such an enormous
crop Of corn as is being gathered in
che United States this year. 1t will
aggregate 1858. .951, 900 bushels, or more
than the entire cron crop of the world
for 1901. The corn raised in the United
States will be sufficient to supply the
needs Of the world for this and next
year, even should there be total fail
ure in 1903.
Corn harvesting Is now in progress In
the United States and not until snow
flies in December will this eronmous
task be ended. Even then farmers fur
ther south will not have finished husk-
ing the golden ears standing in their
fields Of brown. They know 1t makes
little difference 80 far as prices are con-
cerned. A record of sales of corn in the
past ten years shows that the highest
prices are obtained in late fall and win
ter, and that prices are rs per cent. be-
low the average Immediately after the
gathering Of the crop begins in the ear
ly autumn.
Last year the corn burned as it stood
ripening in the fields, just few weeks
before it had matured. But this season
there have been no droughts in the corn
sections. Nor have there been floods
Of general nature. The weather, in
fact, has been ideal for corn growing.
The stalks have grown rank, the ears
have spread and heightened until 12-
inch ears and 15-foot stalks are not un-
common In the corn belts. In Kansas
they are telling Of farmers getting lost
in their cornfelds.
The crop for 1901 fell short of the ex-
pected yield by 40 per cent; this year it
goes ahead Of the predicted yield by 10
or Is per cent. Eight states last year
did not raise enough corn for home con-
sumption. The exports fell short
100000 bushels. The yield was only
l6 bushels to the acre and 1000, 900 acres
were not cut at all. In 1896 the average
yield was 2S bushels to the acre, ex-
cept in Kansas, where 1t was 40 BUSH
els. Kansas last year averaged ten
bushels or less to the acre. The Sun
flower State always runs to the ex-
tremes.
The acreage of corn this year is much
larger than last. It is per cent. more
or 1O2, 1863. 1923 acres. This large acreage
is due to the fact that three and one
half million acres Of wheat, sown the
preceding fall, had been frozen out and
were ploughed up for corn. Conse-
quently, these 3.000, 900 acres, which are
largely in Kansas. Nebraska and Iowa,
will not yield their owners much profit.
The cost Of the wheat ploughed up was
Sc an acre. and the cost Of the corn IS.
The yield must therefore be above 80
bushels and yield 40 cents a bushel, to
profit at all. This is improbable. So 8
per cent. Of the corn crop will yield
nothing above the expense Of sowing
and gathering 1t.
The principal corn states are those Of
the middle and central states. The
summers are too long for good corn pro-
duction In the south, and 1t is too
droughty in the far southwest for GER
tain yield. Illinois is the leading corn
state, but Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, Mis-
souri, and Nebraska are big corn pro-
ducers.
Corn Is handled in a much different
manner than dozen years ago. Then
the man did all; now machinery does
it. Little corn is husked by hand; in
fact most of it is gathered as is wheat,
husked by machinery and shelled by
patent shelter. The cob is ground up
with the fodder and makes good feed;
in fact the fodder Is considered per
cent. Of the crop. There are cornflelds
in Kansas and Oklahoma that cover
5000 to 5000 acres, and from 10 to 20
corn harvesters run through them, one
following another. The corn stalks,
with the ears, are stacked in rows by
these harvesters, later they are hauled
to a thresher or shelter, the ears torn
from the stalk and the grain from the
cob. The cost is very small.
In 1900 the United States raised 2,000,-
OOO, 900 bushels Of corn; in 1901, 1,5OO, ,O0O,-
900 bushels. In 1896 the crop was near
to the present bumper yield, making
s,2S5, ,OOO, 900 bushels. Last year, because
Of the scarcity, corn sold at excessive
prices. In Kansas the farmers obtain
ed 80 cents bushel for the crop. The
average price was 60 cents. The whole
crop sold for 1928, ,555, ,76S. In 1899, when
the crop was twice as large, the price
obtained by the farmers was $62S,21O,-
ITO. The value Of the corn crops last
year was SO an acre, while in 1Ss6-the
greatest corn year prior to this one-$6
was the average price obtained by the
farmers. In 1889 corn sold in some parts
of the United States for 10 cents BUSH
ell, the lowest price ever known.
The corn crops Of the United States
are worth from $500, 100000 to $500,
200 every year. The exports average
from s175,O 900 to s2OO,OOO,OOO annually,
or one-tenth Of the yield. Only rs per
cent. of the corn raised is exported from
the states where it Is grown. Some
states never raise enough corn to sup
ply the home needs. The middle west
states are the principal corn producers
Illinois is the principal exporter.
There are about 100000 farms in the
United States of which 100000 produce
corn. The average cost Of producing an
acre of corn Is $573, divided In this
way: Seed, II cents; planting, IS cents;
cultivating, s1.O2; husking and putting
in crop, sl.16; wear and tear Of tools, 20
cents; rent of land or interest on value,
s2.47.
Tho avera pe cost of production per