The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-05-22

Minnesota and South Dakota, but
never have the! lad so late a. seed
time; and even now, at least 20 per
cent of this wheat area is unseeded
and probably never will be. The same
conditions of seed bed and season pre-
vail as in the northern belt. The crop
has gone into the ground wrong, and
the harvest is almost sure to be dis
apopinting Hundreds of thousands of
acres were seeded four and five weeks
| ago. and not one seed has germina,-
ed This seed may, or may not, ger
minate-time alone can tell-but that
! it will ever attain healthy or Wig
orous growth is more than doubtful.
Much Wheat Land Not Sown
There is one thing sure, the hum
dreds of acres of unseeded wheat land
throughout our northwestern states
and Canadian northwest will not raise
bushel of wheat this season, and
that which is seeded will need the
most favorable of seasons to produce
even a semblance of a crop. What
ever small surplus Manitoba may raise
over its own seed and food require
6OoN
the great shortage in eastern Canada,
where Ontario has lost 60 per cent of
it's winter wheat crop and where the
rest is weak and unpromising.
East of our surplus wheat states,
through Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylva-
MIA, New Jersey and New York. the
wheat crop is a partial failure, and
probably does not at the present time
promise over IS per cent of an average
yield. Further west, the Pacific coast
states have had floods and inoppor-
tune rains, and present conditions do
not promise any surplus over local
needs.
Taking the whole wheat situation
in the United States and Canada into
consideration, we believe we state it
conservatvely when we express the
opinion that the present outlook does
not Justify the belief that these coun-
tries will have one bushel of wheat for
export, or, if exported, that will not
have to be replaced by importation.
The United States cannot raise over
$50, OO0O0 and very easily might raise
less than 5O0,00O,O0O bushels if summer
and harvest conditions are not unusu-
ally favorable. Either of these
amounts is below the constantly in
creasing demands of our growing
population, population earning so
much and spending so much that the
price of bread is rarely considered.
Discouraging State of Affairs Abroad.
IF the outlook for foOdstuffs is
gloomy on this side of the water. it is
but little better in other countries. In
the United Kingdom, the crops have
been retarded by cold, wet weather.
Germany, after having experienced the
most severe winter Of recent years,
finds her crops winterkill in large
sections and generally unpromising.
the government giving the condition as
Sc per cent of an average crop.
Heat and drought have gone far to-
wards running the wheat crops of Hun
gary. Roumania. Bulgaria, Turkey and
Southern Russia, and at latest advices
there is no relief in sight. India will
have very moderate crop. In France
alone have conditions been such as to
justify the expectation of a crop APP
preaching the average. The Argentine
has shipped the bulk of its surplus
and Brazil is outbidding Europe for
| what is left.
Every exporting country is short.
Every importing country is short. The
| foreigner has acquired the habit of
regarding short crops with indifference
| relying on the United States and Cam
| ada to supply any deficiency from their
abundance: but this year we cannot
respond. We have our own people to
|! feed, and every bushel that Europe or
| the United Kingdom takes from us
! must be replaced from some other
/ source, and can only be taken tenn
| porar;ly by outbdding our own millers.
1T seems plain to us that there must
be a readjustment of worlds wheat
prices to correspond with the changed
conditions. The sellers are few and the
| buyers many. and as always in times
of scarcity, the sellers will make the
price. and this will lead to a much
higher level of the worlds wheat
Values