Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1904-09-16


Slightly Exceeded It--A Large Proportion
of the Crop is Being Shipped East, But
Prices are Good. and Will Probably Remain
So, From Shortage Abroad.
The Chicago Record-HerdlH has
been doing some careful estimating Of
the wheat crop of the entire world this
summer. The yield of this country is
placed at 533,O0O,OOO bushels, and
every wheat-raising country save
India has been equally hard hit. The
figures for the United States show a
reduction from the yield of last year Of
about 1O0,00O,0O0 bushels, while the
figures are more than 100000 be-
low those of 1901, and more than
l3O 100000 below those of 1902. 1t
should be noted, however, that they
come pretty close to those of 1900 and
1899, being slightly in excess of the
one and slightly below the other, and
that only twice before 1899 did the
crop amount to as much as 100000, 900
bushels.
The Ore9onidn has carefully com.
piled estimates of the Pacific Coast
yield from data secured by a large
number of experienced correspondents
in the field which show the wheat
crop of Washington, Oregon and
Idaho to be approximately 100000
bushels, an increase of more than 1O,-
100000 bushels over last year and but
100000 bushels less than the record
year of 1901. The acreage sown to
wheat was much greater than in 1901.
but a poor crop in the Willamette
valley, the Grand Ronde and the Big
Bend, materially reduced the average.
In the Big Bend alone. the crop was
4,OOO, 900 bushels less than in 1901,
and the Graude Ronde is about 1,0OO,-
600 bushels less than in the big year.
Had these two districts alone shown
the same yield per acre that was
reached in 1901, the crop would have
been far in excess OF 50,0O0,OOO bush.
els. AS matter of fact early indica-
tions pointed to a 50,O00,OOO- -bushel
crop, but frost and dry weather com.
bined to cut it down in many locali-
ties which heretofore have been rea.
sonably immune from serious damage.
There is still considerable spring
wheat to be cat, and it will be month
yet before accurate figures can be Sc
cured, but from the best data obtain
able at this time, it is believed that
the final returns will show but little
change. In some localities, the grain
is now threshing out little better
than was expected, but standoff is
made for this in other places where
the output is much less than expected.
In presenting the figures by counties
some difficulty is experienced in credit
ing each county with the proper
amount and for this reason hairsplit-
ting accuracy is not claimed per
county. The most reliable acreage
figures obtainable are those showing
the amount OF land tributary to the
various stations, and by taking these
figures some counties may get credit
for wheat that was grown outside the
county line. A noticeable point
where the difficulty is encountered is
at Washtucna, an Adams county sta.
ton, which will draw heavily on
Franklin county for wheat. Similar
conditions are encountered in every
county, but taken in the aggregate, it
is believed that the totals will prove
fairly accurate.
Unlike the big crop OF 1901, the
heaviest yields this year lie in the ter.
ritory directly tributary to Portland.
The river counties, Wasco, Morrow,
Gillian and Sherman, will turn off a
million bushels more than they pro-
duced in 1901, and Umatilla is nearly
a million bushels ahead OF the record
year, although not much ahead OF her
individual best yield previous to 1901.
Frost and dry weather played havoc
with the Grand Ronde, and the yield
is so light that it will be insufficient
te keep the mills running. Eureka
fiat, which was as close to a failure
last year as it ever gets, has a very
good crop this year. The banner
crops of the country, acreage con-
sidered, are coming from the light
lands in Umatills county and the
western part OF Whitman county.
There is big acreage and big yield
on light lands in these districts, and
the light lands OF the Washtucna
country are also turning off big yields.
By q curious whim OF nature the
high. priced lands in the eastern part
of the Palouse, where the big yields
were turned off last year, are this year
running down as low as II bushels and
15 bushels per acre. The Potlatch
country running down into Idaho is
also showing a much poorer yield than
last year. In the Nez Perce country
in Idaho last year, the best district in
the Pacific northwest, dry weather has
made inroads on the amount expected,
and the cropas whole will fall slight
ly below that of last year. There is