The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1906-01-18
GROWING GRAIN IN NEARBY STATES
Five Northwestern States Lead in Production of
Grains Other Than W~heat-Barley, Oats,
Rye and Flax at Front.

Ions Of the oil and made 100000 tons
Of oilcake. Much of the product is
exported to all parts Of the world, the
greater part of it going to Europe.
Antwerp, Glasgow and Hamburg are
some of the heaviest buyers.
Much of the flax crop of these states
is shipped by rail to Duluth, 15,322,003
bushels arriving at that port last sea-
son All Eastern mills keep buyers
at Duluth. and each year millions Of
bushels Of fax cross the great lakes
to Chicago and Buffalo and other lake
ports from where it finds it's way to
the many linseed oil mills of the East.
While the United States grows over
one-fourth of all the flax grown in the
world. Minnesota and the two Dakotas
grow over so per cent Of our national
crop.
Whether or not rye whisky or corn
is the finest In the world is largely a
matter of taste. But that Wisconsin
grows the largest crop of rye in the
United States is a matter of fact.
Wisconsin grows over 5000, 900 BUSH
els of rye each year and Minnesota
and Iowa are both found among the
ten leading rye states, each growing
owe a million bushels every year.
This season Minnesota and the two
Dakotas grew between them 2,945,631
bushels of rye, which had a value Of
81, 206, 118 to the farmers of those
states.
While rye is the least important Of
all the grain crops of the Northwest
the rye area in Minnesota and the two
Dakotas has increased every year for
several years past. Most of that
which is raised in these states is
shipped to the Eastern and Southern
states where the big distilleries are
found. Much of it, however, is milled
in Minnesota. and comes to us in the
form Of rye bread and other foods.
Rye may have a much greater fu-
ture IN this section of the country
than a great many people think at
present. There are many farmers in
the state who look forward to the time
when they shall grow a much greater
crop of rye than they are now doing.
The most important crop raised in
the FIVE states named, after wheat, is
oats. This, however, was not so until
very recently. Only about two years
ago began the great expansion in oats.
For fifty years Minnesota had pro-
duced oats, and the Dakotas hid
raised this cereal ever since they were
settled. In Minnesota oats jumped
from 6S, S09, ia bushels raised in 1903
to S7,8S7,000 bushels raised in 1905.
In the two Dakotas the increase was
about as great. The yield for Mime
sofa this year was nearly forty bushels
to the acre. Those who have traced
the stimulus Of the oats expansion
say that it came from both the East
and the West. One reason for it was
that a great oats market had been es-
tablished at Minneapolis, right in the
heart of the oats-producing states Of
the Northwest. To this market have
come the buyers for the great cereal
houses of the country.
Wherever a great var is on, the de.
mand for oats increases. 1t was so in
the Civil war. Before 1861 the pro-
duction of oats in this country had
been becoming less and less with each
year. In 1862 it was found to be
greatly increased. The war in the far
East no doubt increased very largely
the demand for oats. hence the in
crease in that cereal. At first it would
look as though this was a mistaken
conclusion at which to arrive. as a
wal would not have the tendency to
increase the number of horses and
mules to eat the oats. But just as a
man when he enlists as a soldier
and goes into the field is put upon a
straight ration of bread and beef and
beans, 81 is 4 horse or a mule put
upon a straight ration for oats. For
this reason a war creates a great de-
mand for oats. During the last two
years millions Of bushels of oats
raised in Minnesota and the two Da.
kotas have been shipped to the Orient
and thu Philippines. The oats crop
in Minnesota and the two Dakotas
this year was worth sS7,s46,1O to the
farmers.
1t may be interesting to know the
manner in which the center of pats
production came West. In 1850 the
center of the oats production was
eighty miles east by south of Column.
bus, Ohio, and ten years later had
reached a point forty-eight miles
southeast of Cleveland. Ohio. The year
1870 saw tie center of production thir.
ty miles west by south Of Fort Wayne,
Ind, and in 1880 it was only sixty
two miles southwest Of Chicago. The
year 1890 saw 1t thirty miles north of
Peoria, Ill. The year 1890 saw It
reach Iowa at a point ffty-eight miles
north of Burlington. To-day it is a 1T
tie farther to the Northwest. In 1850
only $780, 00,0 900 bushels of oats were
raised in the United States. This year
over 1,000,0 900 bushels were raised.
Taken all together, the principal
field crops of Minnesota and the two
Dakotas for this year are valued at