The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-22
Agricultural Department
CONDUCTED BY FULTON s. WHITE.


 are reported as a clear loss may re- cover sos as to produce at least hah crop.
 The writer has seen crops of corn standing three feet deep in water ana then recover so as to produce good half crop; yet, there is no question but what there has been much damage 10 the crop by washouts and overfiows, and in order to overcome this damage In part at least we must have favorable wealth CT from now on until the crop Is ma
 tured.
 But by far the greatest damage whlcn
 the crop will receive will be for want or
 cultivation at the proper time. Where
 cultivation has been prevented for weeks
 by heavy rains, the crop can never 1ully
 recover from this neglect or want or
 cultivation. Then. again, many farmers
 who are anxious to save their crops VIII
 rush in after these rains and cultivate
 the crops before the land becomes dry enough to work. thus inflicting still fur- ther damage to the crop.
 This is where the greatest trouble Is to be feared. Corn crops should not be plowed until the land becomes dry agaln. The great danger now Is that the crop after making such a rapid growth dur ing the rain period. that if dry weather with excessive heat shall follow as Is likely to be the case. for one extreme in weather Is generally followed by the re- verse, the crop will be greatly dam aged. The growth Is likely to be check ed by dry weather following these heavy rains and for want of cultivation. Then, too, there Is a probability that In all these rain sections that the weather will be dry just when the crop Is caring and when 1t needs rain the most. These con- ditions have so often prevailed that it is
 safe and reasonable to expect them
 again.
 So in the summing up of the corn crop
 condition In the great corn belt, we can
 not reasonably expect a full crop, and
 even with an increased acreage the crop ) Is bound to be below the demand and ) the average yield has been greatly re- duced.
 In the valleys of the Ohio. Tennessee
 and Cumberland rivers. the crop Is gen.
 orally late, but has been well cultivated.
 The late cold rains in these valleys de-
 layed the plantings, and also rendered
 many of the fields unfit for a good crop
 this season.
 The crop in all the Atlantic Coast
 States and in all the Southern States Is
 badly needing rain and in many sections
 of the South the crop is suffering badly
 for rain, and unless rain comes within
 very few days the crop will be light in
 all the Gulf Coast States.
 So summing up the outlook for the
 corn crop, we are bound to conclude
 from the present conditions that the
 yield or average yield per acre will be
 light and far below what we had hoped
 earlier in the season.
 The supply of old corn is unusually
 small this season with the fact that the foreign demand for our corn is on the increase, will keep corn high and no cheap corn may be expected from this years crops I feel perfectly safe in
 predicting that corn will be In great de-
 mand and that high prices will rule for
 the present crop.
 This warning is given for our Southern
 farmers and to encourage them to grow
 and save all the feed they can on their
 own farms Of course. the drouth Is
 greatly against uu at this time, and our
 lands so dry and hard that 1t would only be a waste of time In sowing seed now
 for hay crops yet, we are likely to have rain In time for sowing peas, sorghums and millets for hay crops. The condi- tions at present are hard on our farm CTS, for feed Is so high and crops are 3 being cut so short by our drouth that
 it takes nearly all the crop to pay feed bills
 Wheat.
 2 Owing to the high prices which have : ruled for hay, corn and potatoes, there ? has been a great reduction in the acre. , age of wheat. Then, too the States that l have been growing largely of our spring l wheat have been gradually working into ] the growing of other crops. The crops In these States have become more diversi-
 fled.
 r The winter wheat crop suffered con- I siderably from cold in nearly all the :, Southern States. So the crop is short r and poor generally in these States. In 8 Oklahoma. Missouri. Kansas and Ne = braska the winter wheat crops are extra = good. The harvest has now reached e Kansas and Nebraska and the only
 drawback is in getting favorable wealth
 CT for harvesting. Farmers in these , States are working like beavers in the harvest fields, and the greater part of the crops may be saved. Help, however, n Is scarce and hard to procure.
 The June government report in spring ' wheat says
 2 The average condition of spring wheat on June l was 954 as compared with g. F at the corresponding date last year, S7.a . on June 1. 1900. and a ten year average of 92.6 The present reported average con = dition has been exceeded only three times < In the last fifteen years. Of the states = having 1000. 600 acres or upward in spring = wheat. South Dakota reports a condi- ton of 100; North Dakota. 96: and Min
 nesota and Iowa, 95. In Washington and . Oregon which together have over 1,100. o GOO acres in spring wheat. the condition - averages are 100 and 93 respectively. ' This report also shows a reduction of spring wheat acreage to be about 2511. GOO acres, or 12S per cent. of the nineteen States reporting spring wheat, thirteen report a reduced acreage, Washington being the only State having L000000 acres or upward in this product that reports . an increase. There Is a reduction of l, 747000 acres in Minnesota and 905,000 acres 7 In North Dakota, due largely to uniform weather conditions during sowing time ' in the Red River valley; a reduction oi . 100000 acres in South Dakota. resulting In the main from an increasing tendency '. towards a greater diversif1cation of crops ~ and a reduction O. 340.V .Vvv acres in Ne II II braska consequent upon the gradual yielding of spring wheat to winter wheat
 which Is going on in almost every sec V ton of the State.' u Now, there is much food for thoug.. :, in these reports. Only a few years ago ! 1t was generally supposed that the Da-
 kotas and Minnesota could only grow such crops to advantage and profit as Il barley, flax and spring wheat, and that !. corn could not be grown to profit. But repeate ed experiments have proven en- tirey different and now these States are 2 producing fine crops of corn. potatoes, grasses and stock hence the falling off . in the acreage of the wheat crops in l these States. When all the States men, = tioned in this report were new the wheat n was the main crop. but as the States be- n come older and more thckly settled = there is a greater diversity of farm crops grown and graoual reduction of acreage in wheat crops takes place.