The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1902-08-15
DAKvra vnors BEHIND TIME.
View of Expert John Inglis Regard
Ing Condition of Wheat Different
From Other Rosy Stories.

~ = EOAu ON1Aer NONy StOf1GSs
The well known crop expert, John In
glis, Of Chicago, who has been remark
ably successful in giving preliminary
estimates Of the yield and probable re-
suits of he wheat crop Of the country
for the past sixteen years, was in
jamestown on his annual tour of in.
spection of the spring wheat Of Mime
seta and the Dakotas. He had been
through Minnesota and South Dakota
He drove out to fields near Jamestown
and gathered samples of the wheat
heacs and inspected the straw, stand,
the condition Of the berry and the va
flous details that go to make up an eX-
pert opinion. that is used by men of
wealth for purposes of their own in dis
counting the yield Of wheat of the coun-
try.
Mr.. Inglis has been through the win
Ter wheat belt, also, this year. and his
OK lnlon On the results of that crop is
being borne out by the large receipts of
oH-grade wheat in Chicago.
In regard to the wheat crop of the
Dakotas, as far as he has examined it,
MI Inglis' opinion will be considera BILE
of a surprise.
The general view has been that, with
favorable weather, North Dakota was
booked for a big yield of wheat, and
made very rosy.
Mr.. Inglis says that the heads are not
we'll filled, and that there is a good deal
of smut in every field where the heads
We're examined.
Two or thre per cent of smut is suf.
ficient to knock off a grade. He attrb-
utes the presence of smut to the wet
weather, more than to any spore that
is found on the seed at termination.
One of the remarkable features of the
present wheat crop, says Mr.. Inglis, is
the length of the head, and the smutty
READS are as long as the others, while
usually they are the shorter stools.
The crop is also from ten days to two
weeks late, and will have to have very
favorable weather to mature properly.
The straw in most of the South Dakota
fields AMI those in the southern part Of
North Dakota is not green from the
first joint to the ground, but there is
enough strength in the upper part OF
the stalk to, mature the head if the
right kind of weather prevails for the
next two weeks.
AT present much Of the wheat is only
in blossom, some in the milk and some
in the dough. While the heads are
long, the other conditions of the plant
do not warrant the view that there will
be the unusually large yield indicated
by the heads.
Another thing noted by Mr.. Inglis is
that the acreage of wheat in the Dako-
tas has been overestimated. In South
Dakota. corn, rye, barley and oats have
taken the place of the wheat crop in a
large degree, and in North Dakota flax
and other grains have taken the place
of wheat. In riding from Sioux Falls
to Canton, S. D.. Mr.. Inglis made thu
following count of fields in a distance
of about twenty miles: Wheat, 81:
corn, 46; oats, 26; barley, "a; flax, s.
In another count Of fields. in a distance
of ninety-five miles, he found the fol-
lowing: Wheat. $50; corn, 204; oats
1G6: barley, 102. This decrease in the
acreage Of wheat in South Dakota has
come about in the last three or fou,
years, and is owing to the low price
and small crops. The acreage of corr
fas increased largely, and the fields are
rs large as the wheat fields once were
From his extensive travels, Mr.. In.
glis believes that North Dakota is ths
best all-round state in the Union for the
raising of food supplies