The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-03-28
BIG LOSS In WHEAT
A HALF MILLION ACRES RUINED
BY HARD FROSTS.
Total Damage Is Estimated at Two Millions
A Theoretical Shortage Of Three Million
Bushels In the Pacific Northwest Crop Is
the Result Of the Cold Wave. but Loss Is
Offset by New Acreage.

Portland, March 24.-Half million
acres of winter wheat have been resown
in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the
result Of the February frosts which
came down with killing effect on
number Of unprotected localities in the
three states. Umatilla county alone
was damaged 10 the extent of 100, 900
acres. Walla Walla county was still
harder hit. Eureka Flat, which pro-
duces more big crops than any other
section in Washington, was practically
all reseeded, and there is big winter
wheat district in the Palouse that will
this year be planted in spring grain
after the fall wheat was wiped out en-
tirely or left in such struggling patches
that it was drilled over and resown.
Conflicting reports have been coming il
from the wheat districts since the cold
weather nearly two months ago, but it
was not until the past few days of
warmer weather that the full extent of
the damage was learned, and some
fields which had apparently come
through the winter all right are now
being reseeded.
In Oregon the greater part OF the
damage is confined to Umatilla county,
but some of the exposed patches ia Nor
row county were also touched sufficient.
ly to demand reseeding of the whole or
a part of the affected farms. Between
Umatilla county and Eureka Flat the
damage runs in places as high as rs
per cent. Over toward Dayton the
damage is lighter, and as there is very
little winter wheat in that vicinity, the
effect will not be felt. The cold wave
swept across Snake river and killed a
lot of wheat on the new acreage around
Washtucna, then hit the high spots
again in the vicinity of Ritzville. In
the heart of the Palouse around Colfax.
Garfield and st. John entire fields were
wiped out, and the per centage of dam
age throughout that section was very
high. 1t struck the Idaho line south
of Moscow, but the effect was milder,
the effect around Genesee being only
about 80 per cent. The Big BEND es-
capped the frost, except in isolated cases,
and the damage in that territory from
this cause is inconsequential.
The exact effect of this extensive
damage cannot be determined until har-
vest. With favorable spring wheat
season the yield ON the reseeded ground.
may be pulled up to nearly the same
figures as would have been returned
from the winter crop. Conservative
men, however, estimate that under the
best circumstances it would not be safe
to figure OH within five bushels per acre
OF the yield that would have been Sc
cured from winter wheat. II this ratio
Of loss should hold for the entire tract
damaged there will be theoretical
shortage Of $500, 900 bushels Of wheat.
To this must be added 500, 900 bushels
of actual wheat used for reseeding,
making total of 3,000,O00 bushels of
wheat lost by the severity Of the winter
in February. At present prices this
would represent loss of approximately
s2, 100000 With conditions similar
to those of last season from now on,
there will still be as much wheat in the
Pacific Northwest as there was last
year. This is due to the fact that there
is quite material increase in the
acreage, there being more new land
under cultivation for both winter and
spring wheat than ever before.
From the Big Bend country, which
turned off a wonderful crop last year,
come reports that there is a decided
lack of moisture and there the condi-
tion Of the crop is by no means so good
as it was year ago, and it is feared
that the lack Of moisture can not be
made up in time to do much good in
pulling the crop up to the proportions
of year ago. In the Big Bend coun-
try there is more new acreage than in
any other section, and it is on this new
acreage that the railroads are depend
ing for stand.off for the poor yield
which now seems inevitable. The re-
seeding in Umatilla and Walla Walla
counties has not been done under very
favorable circumstances, for imnedi
ately after the drills stirred up the
ground a dry wind swept over the
country and absorbed considerable
moisture, leaving the ground so dry
that the wheat was very slow in germ
mating, and will not have very good
start,