The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-09-14

damage by heavy rains to crops far worse than had been reported in the press dispatches. The rainfall was the greatest known for years and continued for a much longer period than ever be- fore Along the rivers the country was overfowed and thousands of acres of crops destroyed. The small grain crops as well as the hay crop was badly dam aged. I saw hundreds of acres of fine oats, rye, wheat and hay that was never harvested at all Then there were many fine fields of small grain where the shocks were standing and growing green. Some few farmers succeeded in getting their oats stacked. but in many eases this only proved a waste of time for the grain sprouted and many stacks are as green as are the shocks. So that nearly all the grain and first crops of hay, especially in the low lands, will be almost an en- tire loss. On the higher lands few farmers fared better and thrashed their grain between showers. These were able to save part of their grain though nearly all of 1t is badly weather stained which will injure the price and cause the grain to be sold for less than it's full value. The crops were fine, and 1t does seem a pity that such crops could not have been saved.
 The winter wheat crop was immense caiA eo AiSn dS hlA9 DuSneio pNA thrashed. I examined several crops which yielded from forty to fifty bushels per acre. The grain is large and plump, ex- tra heavy and but for the marks or weather stain would bring the hlgnest prices. The oat crop was also very heavy and where thrashed from the shock early the yield ran as high as eighty bushels per acre. But thousands of bushels or oats are clear loss, and the same may be said of the early hay crop-thousands of tons are lost. while much of the crop saved is badly damaged by being dis colored or weather stained.
 Corn.
 Iowa is the banner corn state and has to depend largely on her corn crop for feeding her thousands of hogs and cattle, for this is also the leading state in these commodities. The corn was green until September l. and there is great anxiety for fear that frost may catch the crop before it hardens. Nearly all the corn on exhibition at the state fair was only in good roasting ears. The weather was very unfavorable for maturing the crop and unless they should have good wealth CT in Septemebr there will be much soft corn in Iowa. The cool, wet weather has kept the corn green and growing so long that 1t is now question whether or not it will ripen. The loss or even a partial loss of the Iowa corn crop would have a telling effect on the corn market and supply this winter. The crops on the high lands, where they were well culti- vated, is fine and will mature all right. In fact l saw many good crops now out of danger, but the trouble is that there is not near enough of these good upland crops. In the low lands and along the rivers there are many crops that were only cultivated one time. and these crops can never make anything like good yield and as the land Is so thoroughly water-soaked the crop cannot mature Gn of Il C1Aca atNxraf Hon of ! my crops anL after having talked with the best growers of the state, feel war ranted in making the statement that the Iowa corn crop of last year was worth more to the iarmers than this year S crop will be.
 Potatoes.
 The early potato crop was large and potatoes were selling very cheap and n some localities could be bought for the low price of ten cents per bushel which -Drice barely covers the expense of dlg- ging, for this year the cost or digging a crop of potatoes is something fearful, for the land has to be moved and cleared of weeds and grass before the crop can be harvested. Then when the land Is reached it is so wet that the potatoes are dug from the mud. Some few crops where water-soaked, have routed in the ground, but as rule they have kept surprisingly Il when we consider that the sun has not shown on the land for weeks and that many fields are under water for days. The late crop of pota- toes are almost a complete failure, and Iowa Wal have but few of the late crop for shipping this season, and in view of this fact it is strange that Iowa farmers are selling their early crops so cheap anI the on4y solution is that they are afraid that these overgrown early pota- toes are not going to keep and they rush too many of them on the local market, more than local merchants can handle or more than there Is a demand for.
 Other Crops.
 There are many other crops which help to swell the agricultural wealth of Iowa, a few of which I will mention.
 Farmers of Iowa grow most of the pop corn used in the great eastern cities. This crop is grown in car lots and shipped to Boston as well as to many other large cities, but the Boston dealers in particular contract with Iowa farmers for their supply of pop corn and this brings in good revenue each season. The crop this year is large and promis- ing and will mature in most sections. Then the state grows largely of sorghums and millets, some flax, and also consid- erable sunfower seed. These crops like that of the small grain and corn have suffered from rain and floods and will be good or bad according to location.
 Fruits and Vegetables.
 Iowa is also a great state for many varieties of fruits and vegetables. Such a rank growth of vegetation I never saw before. There is a great abundance of vegetables of most sorts. though the crops are late. Tomatoes only began to ripen about August 20 The cabbage crop Is immense, heads exhibition at the state fair weighing dressed, from twenty-eight to thirty-eight pounds. One grocery store had a mammoth head that weighed fifty four pounds with the outer leaves cut off, but the stalk with root left on. All vine crops, such melons and pumpkins were almost a failure. There was too much wet weather for these crops. In fruits, apples and plums were fine Grapes nearly a failure; same of peaches The great crop of fine plums are too cheap to pay for gathering and market ing. Apples are unusually large and bring fair prices.
 We also crossed the great agricultural state of Illinois. Here we found the crop conditions some better than in Iowa, ex- cept along the rivers where the condi- tions are pretty much the same as in Iowa On the high lands the corn crops were fairly we'll cultivated and the crop seems to be several weeks ahead of the Iowa crop. Small grain and hay seems not to have been so badly damaged and more or the grain has been thrashed than is the case further west. With favorable weather, Illinois will have a fine crop of corn. It is almost impossible to picture the destruction of crops along the great Mississippi river both the Iowa and Illinois side From Muscatine Iowa