Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-07
SIXTY CENT CORN IN SIGHT
Commission Men Look for Rise in the
Prios Of the Cereal.
pELAY IN MOVEMENT DESTROYS GRADE
Bulk of Crop SIN in cribs and Bins
and weather IL Causing IL TO
Heat, with Prospect OF
Damage.

"If the prevailing conditions continue,
you may look out for 60-cenJ corn" re-
marked Messrs. Boyd & Merrill, grain and
commission men in the New York Life
building, last evening just at the close Of
business. Corn was 1915 cents at Mil
waukee at the close of the market"
other commission men are Of a similar
opinion, and w. e. Ward. manager of the
Weare Commission company, reflects the
general consensus of opinion among grain
men Of this city when he says: THE con-
ditions are bad enough throughout this Sec
ton. The bad weather Is causing the corn
to heat in the elevators and cribs. 1t is
next to impossible to get cars to haul the
corn out. The elevators are full and the
cribs are full, and there is no apparent,re-
lief that we can build on. Another bad
feature about the corn through this section
is that 1t has not been grpded up, and, In
fact, Nebraska corn will not even average
No. 3, and most of it will go No. 4 and
lower. The crop has been a disappoint-
ment, and to cite you an illustration: A
farmer over near Nebraska City who was in
here today had confidently expected to real
ize IS, 900 bushels of corn last year, but had
to content himself with only about 5000
bushels of grade corn. In some sections OF
the state the elevators are full and refuse
to accept any more corn. In some Instances
the elevator men are compelled to build
additional bins to their elevators to admit
OF shifting the corn to prevent its heat
ing"
Reserve and Condition.
From other commission men infol nation
is derived similar to that quoted, and the
general summary is that the corn of last
year is naturally poor because Of the wet
season, as it came from the fields, and
that the meager facilities for grading it
will reduce the quantity of No. 2 corn to a
relatively small figure. 1t is expected that
the forthcoming government report, March
10, will show a large reserve of corn in the
hands of the farmers. This is evident in
yesterdays receipts of corn at Chicago, ESQ
cars, but Of that number not one car graded
No. 2. This is going on day after day like
a continued story.
The price of corn is very likely to rise
in Chicago because of the small percentage
Of corn in the houses there. This will con-
tinue until the car situation in the west ia
relieved, and but little relief can be looked
for until the opening of lake navigation in
April. There was some encouragement in
the messages from Illinois last evening,
which state that the car situation has been
very materially relieved there and that the
general movement Of grain has begun from
the Illinois elevators. The best grades of
corn to be found in the corn belt are In
Illinois, the southern section of Iowa,
southern Nebraska, northern Kansas and
Missouri generally. There is no corn at all
in the northern part Of Nebraska that can
be considered as a commercial or market
able commodity. The same rule will apply
in northern Iowa.
Phillips Forecast.
Anent this subject, the following estimate
based on over one thousand replies received
from over the corn belt from reliable cor
respondents Of the George H. Phillips Grain
company of Chicago, will be read with in
terest: