Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-01-23

cause their millions of occupants are
dependent solely upon the farmer-he
feeds the world.
Is there any reason, then, why so po-
tent factor in our national life as the
American farmer should not hold his
head high and look straight ahead? He
is happy and contented; his home is
comfortable and Independent, perhaps
more so than that of any other class;
his granaries are bulging and overflow
ing, hts barns are filed with live stock,
his cellar is packed with fruits and
vegetables, his bank account has been
increased considerably with each sue
ceSsive crop, his credit is unlimited; all
together. there are on our 6,OO0,Op0
farms n freedom and an independence
of life that reflect the stability and
character of our basic wealth in agri-
culture.
The year just closed may be sum-
married. as one of uniform and almost
unparalleled excellence in crop produc-
ton The liberal bulk of tonnage, with
reasonably good prices, means contin
ued prosperity for farmers. and that in
q very large way points to further
DuSlIlcSS uGdllu vi tOthtlg 1N
1t is not often that season has shown
such uniformity in excellence of farm
yields. Climatic conditions proved ia
vorable throughout the growing sea
son and disappointed some of the pes
simists who expressed fears that the
abnormal winter of l905-1906 would be
followed by crop disaster. In all the
staple crops the average was large.
Moisture was reasonably well distrib-
uted, temperatures in the main were
favorable. and the drawbacks were
few
Mind Cannot Grasp.
A full appreciation of the increase in
the wealth of the country by reason of
good crop year is really beyond the
grasp of the human mind. So accus-
toned is the eye to the public printed
statements reeled off in six or eight
figures relating to promotion of mining
stock and trust schemes that it is re-
lief to turn for moment 10 something
even more impressive, especially as it
has reality. For instance, take the
corn crop of 1906. It's bulk cannot be
comprehended i'll terms of bushels.
There are 2.962, 100000 bushels to put
lHS dNtIlueS VI GULF
merce. An ordinary freight car carries
500 bushels. On this basis it will re-
quire 100000 cars to transport the
crop. Such figures are vague and con-
fuSing, but reduced to miles. allowing
thirty-eight feet to the car, including
coupling, this corn train would encircle
the world ut the equator and lap on n
side track extending from Chicago to
central China. The cash valuation of
this crop may be roughly estimated at
S1,100.000
If corn is king, cotton is queen. The
cotton crop stands second in impor-
lance in cash value and should be
>yorth at least S640,OOO,OOO to the farm
ers who produced it. Third in order is
hay, for which the farmers bank &C
counts will be increased 5000. 100000.
Wheat stands fourth in the list and
will swell the bank accounts of the
producers to the extent of S450,000,O00. |
Some of the other crops are as follows:
Oats, $300000.000; potatoes, $150,000,-
0e0; barley, S65,000,000, showing a
gain of 81 per cent in seven years; to-
bacco, $55.0o0,O00; sugar beets. $34,-
100000. Seven years ago the total val
ne of the sugar beet crop was only
81 100000.
The corn and wheat crops are the |
largest on record, as noted in the ac-
table, while the other ce