Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1910-01-28
Yield.

DIT the national problem of
,;sino and selling wheat is not
~ Of acreage alone. 1t is also a
,roblem of "yield. This, Sir
william Crooks did not material
i consider, except to suggest that
the tixation Of free nitrogen from
the atmosphere is the coming
method of providing an adequate
wheat supply In his article in the
World s Work of recent date, Mr.
lanes J. Hill has passed from the
nroblem of acreage to the prob
lem of yield or production per
acre He demonstrates beyond
ouestion that at the present rate
If If production and at the present
rate of increase of population we
shall soon be unable to feed our
own people the bread they will
demand. He shows that the aver
aoe wheat crop Of the United
States for the years 1880-84 was
AGA 100000 bushels; that for the
wears 1901-S Cor twenty years la
ter) it was 100000 bushels,
making an increase Of Al per cent
in our total production-due in
the main to increased acreage.
During the same stretch Of time
$3.50 to 1909 our population
grew from 50000,000 to (esti-
mated) 87,000,000 or an increase
of "A per cent. That is, population
has been growing at a consider
ably more rapid rate than wheat
supply. The result is that we are
consuming Il larger and larger
proportion Of our wheat at home.
The average annual export from
the United States Of wheat and
wheat -four for 1880 to 1884 was
149 IL million bushels, while for
the years 1904-8 it was ia ID
million bushels, a decrease Of "A
per cent i'll our export. While we
retained for home use in the first
period 30l ID million bushels,
and in the second period 542 mil
lion bushels, showing an increase
in home consumption of so per
cent. To take a little longer peri
cd; we exported 32.5 per cent of
our crop in 1874, and las per
cent in 1906. The conclusion of
Mr.. Hill is that lin another ten
years the United States may be
come wheat importing nation.
President Brown believes that this
stage will be reached in 1914.
One other illustration along this
line may be given: Assuming that
the per capita consumption Of
wheat in the United States is 6 ID
bushels, and assuming the same
growth in population as at pres
ent, by 1850 we shall have a pop
ulation of 200,000,000, demanding |
| 300, 100000 bushels of wheat. |
But our average crop from 1880 |
to 1906 was only 521 ID million
bushels, and even at its best, for
the year 1908 the yield was $50
bushels, or just about half
the amount we shall need.
What then are we to do? Mr..
Hill says Farm better and pro
duce more wheat to the acre" If |
we cannot find more acres, each |
acre must grow more wheat. |
Clearly this is worth thinking
about The average yield in the
United States is 1873 bushels, while |
the yield for Great Britain is 30 |
bushels; for Germany % bushels
for Belgium "a bushels; for France
20 bushels. Why the difference?
1t is evidently the result of diff !
ference in soil fertility and inn
proyement. A production double
our present one would reach only |
the average of Germany, and
would fall below that of Belgium |
and Denmark. Mr.. Hill, to be sure,
holds that our yield is on the de
crease, and this becomes to his
mind a reason for the greatest
alarm as indicating depleted
soil. In regard to this fact he is
mlslead into overstatement. For
while it is true that, for example,
to take the state of New York for
the past ten years, during the first
half of the decade the yield was
1874 bushels, and during the see
ond half it was ia bushels; this
IS far too short a period by which
~ test such a problem. For it is
true in this ease that taking rec
ords for New York for the past
forty years, the yield on the whole
. rises" steadily each decade as
follows: AL bushels, 1876, 1874
and 17.9.
Nevertheless the emnhaSiS n1ac-