The Mena weekly star., 1907-12-05
NST YEAR Fl|R FARMERS
The Annual Report of Secretary wilson Makes Grand Showing
 for Agriculture.
PRODUCTION VALUED AT $7,4I2,Ooo,0OO
croos Were as Good as the Average Says the Secretary and Prices Much Better-The Value of the Al falfa Crop Placed at $1oo,ooo- 900.

900.
 Washington, Dec. 1.--Farmers of tho nation have had an unusually prosperous year, according to the an nual report of James Wilson, secre- tary of agriculture. The total value of farm products Is placed at $7,412,- 100000. The secretary says of the general farm situation of the last year:
 No general crop failure afflicts the farmer this year, not even within small areas. The production of the farms, all things considered, is well m to the average of the previous five years in quantity, while its value to the farmers, as now appears at this annual day of reckoning, reaches a figure much above that of 1906, which by far exceeded any previous years wealth production on farms.
 Durum wheat is the first thing dis cussed. The report says:
 When the department of agricul- ture brought durum wheat to this country from Russia and Africa dur ing 1902 the seed was sown that formed practically the entire founda- ton of the present crop of durum wheat. At cost of $10,000 in the be- ginning, crop worth $30.000,0 900 now grows in the regions of low rainfall, where in the day of stock ranges the steer roamed on 20 acres to find its cud. This crop has encroached on the home of the prairie dog and of the cactus. As an export crop durum wheat has become prominent. In 1905 Europe took nearly 10.000.000 of the 20.000,000 bushels produced and in 1906 about 20, DOC. 900 bushels of the crop of that year.
 The value of alfalfa to the farmer is shown by the following:
 The value of the alfalfa crop as hay this year is supposed to be s100.000.- 900. and If the plans and efforts now under way to promote It's extension receive a reasonable reward the value of the future crop will be several times the present amount. This forage plant Is a chemical laboratory In which nitrogen is taken from the air. It is soil improver of the high est merit. As a flesh forming feed for growing live stock, and as a milk and egg producer. it is unexcelled by any plant of large production. It grows 2h tons of hay to the acre as an average for the whole country where it is grown, or twice the aver age for all kinds of hay. and, besides this, is more nutritious than any other hays. The cultivating of alfalfa has been pressing eastward until now it has established itself as far as the longitude of eastern Kansas, except in southern Texas. It is established in some areas still further to the east ward-in spots In Arkansas, in south ern Wisconsin, northern Illinois and northern Indiana. in the limestone re- gions of Kentucky and Tennessee, and in the southeastern corner of Michigan.
 Here is what the report says about the great American crop:
 Four-flfths of the worlds produc' ton of corn, as nearly as can be de termined. grows in the United States, and in the worlds international trade In corn this country contributes one third to one-half of the exports. not including the products of cornfed ami mals. Fears of failure or a large degree of failure of the corn crop this year diminished after midsummer and at last the harvest secured 2,553,732.- 900 bushels, a production that is all most exactly the average of the crops of the preceding five years. There have been three larger corn crops those of 1899. 1905 and 1906. In value the corn crop of this years is much above the highwater mark of 1906. On the assumption that the crop will be sold by farmers at an average price not below the present one, its value is estimated to be N,350,00O,' 900, or 26 per cent above the average value of the previous five crops. Four crops before had exceeded H,000 ,000,0 900 in value.
 The total wealth produced Is the highest on record. The secretary writes concerning this:
 Wealth production on farms in 1907, as expressed in value, transcended the high record of 1906, which was It. self much above the highest amount before reached, in arriving at the total the farm products of the year are estimated In value for every de tail presented by the census and at that point in production at which they acquire commercial value,
 The grand total for 1907 Is $7.4l2,' 0O0,000. This is s657, 100000 above the value of 1906, $1, 103. 900, ,O00 above that of 1905, s1.253. .0Oc.0O0 above that of 1904, $1,495, 100000 above that of 1903 and s2, ,6s5, 100000 above the cen sus amount for 1899. In the last nine years wealth estimated as above ex' plained was created on farms to the fabulous amount of $53.000,00O O,OOO