Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1909-06-25

table of crop conditions carries with il
much to thinking men:
Condition Ten year
june |. 1909. 1908. 1907. Ave-
Winter wheat SO.7 $50 ia sos
Spring wheat .05.2 $50 SS.7 92.6
Oats .. SS.7 02o SIG 53.I
Rye .... . .SJ.6 9l3 SS.l SD.4
Barley ..... .nD.H SD7 $40 9n.6
To some people these statistic, may
prove dry reading. There are minds IN;
ah,.or statistic, ANYWAY. There are mil
lions Of citizens who think that crop sta
tiStc> are Of 10 earthly interest to them.
Set to one gifted with little magma
tinn the crop statis les are alive with
human interest. Tragedy. despair OF
ultant hope dwel> in the cold figures
They have Il vital bearin. on nearly ev-
cry uman l:fe and human interest. Few
there are among the sons OF men who are
not affected III some way hy the success
ur failure Of the crops OF the country III
which he lives. Be>honc upon by the
light Of an intelligent conception q
what crop conditions mean with relation
to the prosperity of the ation. and the
rnmplcNty OF modern civilatinn which
interlink> the good or bad fortune OF
each individual with that of other inli
tisti"> take on Il new import and form
subject of intranciny interest to every
thoughtful reader.
The government crop statistics have
drawn out siderable criticism based
on their accuracy from time to time. 1t
may Well I've supposed that they are
often somewhat faulty in this respect.
And vet it is II fact capable Of easy dem
onst ration that even though they DC
faulty they are likely to furnish us with
the most authentic information on the
subject obtainable anywhere. Private
attempts to gather such statistics arc
open to suspicious from which the gov
ernment figures are free, because the lat
ter have no motive to misreprcsent the
facts. They are ut least honest III their
conclusions. while somebody's sell inter
est must be the moving motive in the
distribution Of crop information gath
cred in advance by private parties. 1t is
usually SO collected by some speculative
element desiring to raise or deprrss
prices by the circulation of favorable or
unfavorable crop statistics.
The Tribune has heretofore dwelt on
the fact that the idea that the political
success of one party or another IS con
trolling factor in national prosperity Is
the mersst nonsense. 1t is political gull
given out for g,,fls to feed on. The
wealth produced out of the soil of Il ia
ton is not the sole element Of national
prosperity. but it is easily the greatest
and most important among these. ele-
ments that go to make good OF bad
times. Indeed We might almost say
that it is impossible to have any very
seriously bad times in country that
produces good crops for successive sea
sons and sells them for good prices
Therefore to our mind far more impof-
tant than the tariff or the action OF con-
ores, OH any Of the high matters before
them i, the crop prospect for 1909 in pre-
dieting good or bad times ahead of us.
Once more keeping these reflection, III
the foreground, IA glance at the little
table printed in this article brings com
fnrtiny assurance It is to be noted that
while in some eases the average condition
Of the crop is less favorable than III pre-.
viuus Years. i'll every case the conall l''n
is as good or better than the average for
the past ten Years. That Is i hlahlN
plcasin. fact in view oi the 'atents, ui
he season nearly everywhere. II !, also
il fact 81 comforting import that Nhile
the condition Of the crops ars fairly sat.
isfactory the acreage III n"ari, every
case is increased. In he cas" OF wi,;a,
the increase of acreage is placed at seven
per cent. Were it net iar IL lsers. ef"p
conditions in other paris o! the wor'a
the price might be expected to seriously
decline in the face of increased acreage,
! but prices are stiff on all The cerea'S AM
no expectation of any falling away. y
course increase! consumption rs We'll as
poor crop conditions il other part, ol
the world plays its part iii the higher
prices. Figured on Iuna ! the total
wheat crop for 1909 is rlac"l by the de
partment at 67O,0O0,Wo bushels. Such
IA crop weula compare with an actual
harvest Of iG4.G02.oito bushels last y'af,
34.nS7 .0GO in 1907. 735.Z,Na.0 i'll la't',
800. $50 in 1905. 552..;0,al. IN l:"if.
.;,7 A2I.S35 in l9n5. 67ooG,,1Oo in l'rf.
and 7i2 24GO.2oo in H.. when the ef"p
lrok. all records befp:. % sine. 1t Nlli
thu, be seen th;,. wa have 10 cause te
asa,nabie about the y" ,ant oitlaeS Tor
the wheat crop is the government, e,f'-
mates are borne on, by harve,s retusn''
In fact taking in.D consideration 'h'
present extraordinary prices iar what
It would look as tI,.,.h the comm" crop
would he one of the richest W. oyer ,l.'.t.
In reat ion to the other crops the prom
isa is equally satisfactory. o course
ther. ere dangers 20 he crop yet to u"
ent ountered. The ii.utc> of July ! may
tel. the story of these. Or August ! may
have Il tale of further si.rtailmcnt a'a
disaster. But foc tl. time being '',e
government crop reph't tells ehe"fih"
and optomistic tale If prosperity IN store
I