The Kemper herald. (Scooba, Miss.) 1875-1908, 1907-12-26
RAILROADS
SYSTEM
OF
crop
REPORTS.
MANY ROADS FOLLOW GROWTH
OF CEREALS AS CLOSELY AS
DO GOVERNMENT
BUREAUS.
How Facts Are Gathered.

regarding the probable outcome of the
work of the country's farmers. This
is true not onlysof the reports issued
well of the reports privately COM
piled for the information of the man
agements of the great railroad sys'
tens which must needs keep in touch
with the course of events in the agri-
cultural districts in order to be pre-
pared for the traffic supplied by these
districts as we'll as to be informed
regarding the general course of busi-
ness which is SO closely connected
with the outcome of the crops. Quite
recently these railroad reports on the
conditions of the crops were brought
prominently before the public owing
to the part which the crop reports of
the Illinois Central played in the con-
troversy between the present manage
ment of that road and former Presi-
dent Stuyvesant Fish.
The reports which the Illinois Cen
trail supplies to it's directors cores
ponded closely to the crop reports
pa SPdfCu Ny lhdhy vi thO othCl 30
systems. Naturally 1t is the weston
railroads which pay most attention to
the crops, for they are nor direct
ly dependent upon the outcome of the
crops than are the railroads in the
east.
Roads like the ST. Paul, the Atchi-
on the Great Northern and to a
greater or lesser extent all the rail-
roads which serve the agricultural
districts, keep close watch on the
planting. the growth and the harvest
ing of the crops. These reports are
gathered very much as are the gov
eminent reports, the local agents of
the railroads taking the place of the
field representatives of the Depart.
ment of Agriculture. These reports
are gathered by the Division Super
~intendents and in turn transmitted to
the headquarters of the railroads,
where they are scanned carefully for
the light they throw on the probable
demands of each section for equip
ment to handle the output of cereals
OF other staples and on the general
prospects of the business of the rail-
roads.
These crop reports thus serve a
ton of a railroad. If it is seen that
the crop of wheat or corn or some
other product promises TO be especial
ly bountfful in some particular Sec
ton, the officers of the railroads lay
their plans accordingly and look
ahead to supplying to each section,
when the time for moving the crops
arrives, the equipment which may be
required. If the general crop outlook
along the line of any railroad is very
good new equipment is frequently or
dered with a view to keeping the road
well prepared to handle this traffic.
If the crop prospects are bad orders
for new equipment are likely to be
kept down to a minimum.
What is true of the reports on the
cereal crops is true in a more limited
degree of many other reports which
are received by the railroads. The
lines which have a large traffic in
fruit have to keep very close watch
on the size of the crops. In the
case of fruit, in fact, adequate equip
ment service is even more important
than in the case of cereals and other
staples like cotton, which can be
readily stored, while fruit would suf-
fer greatly by any delay in shipment.
The output, say, of berries in any
n oAtOt,1ar cnntian xynvsnr co ,~1a%J,,
from one season to another that day
to day reports are necessary at some
seasons in order to keep the general
manager of a road informed of the
probable requirements Of each sec
ton for refrigerator cars, in which
fruits and early vegetables are trans
ported from the southern States TO
the northern markets, or from the
California fruit farms to the east.
In the actual gathering of these
reports the railroads are put to only
minor expenses for the reason that
this work is done by the railrcao en-
ployes in conjunction with their other
work. More, probably, is spent In
transmitting these reports, which in
many cases are tent by telegraph.
than in actually compiling them.
James ]. Hill. while president of
the Great Northern, gave much atten-
ton to the gathering of crop reports,
and under his direction the agents nf
the Great Northern were trained to
keep watch of the course of the crops
and to keep their superiors INFORMED
at frequent intervals. In the early
stages of the crops the reports are
made at infrequent intervals, but lat
er weekly. and in some cases eve
more frequent, reports are forward
ed by the agents along the line to
division headquarters, and thence
transmitted to the superior officers OF
the railroads.
In former days these crop reports
were regarded as even more
tous than now. for in past years the
fortunes of the so-called Granger
roads we're, to all intents and pur-
poses, dependent solely upon the out
come of the crops. A bountiful crop
of corn or wheat meant large earn
ings, and a poor crop meant very
than they we're twenty years or more
ago. Traffic has become SO diversi-
fed even on the roads which still
are designated as granger roads that
the outcome Of the crops is of less
sital Importance to these lines han