The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-07-30
THE TREND OF WHEAT.
It's Movement Westward Has Been
Steadily Increasing,

lts Movement Westward Has Been
Steadily Increasing.
With favorable weather conditions
the new wheat area of eastern Mon
tana, western North Dakota, western
central South Dakota, western central
Nebraska, western Kansas and eastern
Colorado, all in the semiarid region,
can produce from 100000 to 10000.
600 bushels more wheat than ever
before. That is, the country may
absolutely gain that much, for this
increased area is not in wheat at the
expense of some other locality.
Last season the crop was light in
the semiarid region because Of drought
But in the winter wheat part of it
there is, so far as is known,
promising amount of moisture, while
in the northwest, in the dry coun-
try" the ground is in perfect condi-
ton, which will insure large acre
age in spring wheat.
But few years ago the western and
northwestern counties of Kansas were
beyond the wheat country. The west
however that now, with sufficient mois-
ture, several Of the group of northwest
ern counties will raise q million to n
million and a half bushels each. Chey-
enne county, in the extreme northwest
ern corner Of Kansas, has a sufficient
area in wheat to produce over half a
million bushels. In western central
Nebraska and South Dakota the west
ward trend Of wheat has brought about
the same remarkable change. Given IA
vorable conditions this season, these two
states will take more important posi-
ton among the wheat producers than
ever before and by reason of new acre
age in the semiarid region.
Last season North Dakota had
remarkable increase in wheat acre
age in the west and northwest and
but for the drought, which west Of the
500 line cut down the yield over a
large area one-half - but for this
North Dakota would have raised the
heaviest crop any state has ever pro-
duced. West of the Missouri river
the traveller over the Northern Pacific
or the Great Northern can form no
conception Of the area under cultiva-
ton. At some small stations-New
Salem or Glen Ullin, on the Northern
Pacific. for instance-the traveller will
see two or three fields and q waste
of drear, brown hills suggesting lone
liness rather than energetic agricul-
ture. ret there may be marketed at
each of these stations and others like
them a quarter of million bushels Of
wheat. Where does it come from?
From ten, fifteen, twenty-five and
thirty-fivc miles north and south of
the railroad, hauled in by team. Thus
the whole great country west of the
Missouri and north of the Northern
Pacific has been and is being brought
under cultivation. In eastern Montana
it is the same, but with the difference
that irrigation and dry farming meth
DDS are making the crops more sure.
And this is the country hardly yet
known to the grain trade and not at
all to the outside world.
rIains oiossvur s>yaru.
A once barren empire practically as
large as the state of Missouri has been
reclaimed by two plants, the sugar
beet and alfalfa. Within half a dozen
| years the western third Of Kansas, 4
portion of southwestern Nebraska and
nearly half of eastern Colorado have
increased half million in population,
raised the value of their products from
almost nothing to respectable figure
and demonstrated the one time theory
that the production of sugar is not linn
tied in America to the south.
The Industries of this section are, to
be sure, in the infant stages of their
possibilities. There are no cities, few
railroads and practically none of the
things men choose to term civilization,
but there are acres and miles verdant
nine months in the year with succu-
lent grasses and sweet roots which in
time will make the whole section into
another great farming commonwealth
Little towns have grown up in few
years, and thousands of families have
arrived and, what is more to the point,
u