The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-07-09
HENNESSY ON
CROP SITUATION
SAYS CALAMITY is NOT AS
GREAT AS IS FEARED AT
FIRST GLANCE.

Bismarck, N. D., July Sit Is the
opinion of men who have made a care
full study of the crop situation that
there has been a falling off OF not
less than 100000 bushels in the
amount of wheat in sight in the last
forty days." says w. B. Hennessy, who
returned yesterday from trip through
the Dakotas and Minnesota. But
the fact does not indicate a calamity
or anything like it. The failure is
spread over a large tract of country
and the loss Of even a quarter OF
billion dollars from the produced
wealth of this country in a single year
is not calculated to affect the ire
mendous and substantial prosperity of
the country as a whole--and 1t may be
added that the wheat failure applies
to the continent, not to the United
States alone.
1T does not relieve the situation a
bit for the poor fellow who has staked
his all on a wheat crop that is burn
ed up to know that his loss Is not
going to interfere with the progress
or business of the country, but this
sort of thing Is to be reckoned with
broadly. This Is no longer one-crop
country. Ten years ago such falling
off in the wheat crop of North Da-
kota as is now indicated would spell
calamity. Now 1t means-for the
whole body of the people-the disap-
pearance for the time being OF surplus
spending money. There viii, for in
stance. be some falling off in the
amount of money spent for automo-
biles during the next twelve months.
"The small grain crops have been
hit hard in a territory that may be
broadly described as reaching from
the Wisconsin boundary Of Mime
sofa to Calgary, and nearly Ave hun
dred miles wide. In his enormous
tract Of country there are vast areas
where local rains or conditions of
tillage will produce crops but little
below the normal, but the entire tract
is embraced in the spread of the
failure. There Is no use denying the
fact that North Dakota is hit hard
everywhere east of the Missouri riv-
er. There were approximately 7,000,-
600 acres put into wheat in this state
this year. 1t may be safely estimat-
ed that one-half of this total is wiped
out, that nothing would save any of
It, OF the remaining half, there is
hope of, say, half a crop, yielding a
total Of twenty, or at the most, TWEEN
| ty-five million bushels.
That means that the produced
wealth of the state will fall off pretty
near eighty million dollars this year.
That sounds like a stiff Jolt until one
stops to consider that it is only about
one-fifth of the total wealth created
in this state evry year. The new
wheat country to the west Of the Mis-
souri, is going to help keep up the
average amazingly and there is a very
respectable amount Of money lying by
to the credit of the farmers of the
state-more millions than there were
hundreds of thousands ten or eleven
years ago. And the sufferers this
year are simply paying for the ex-
perience that will make them indie.
pendent of weather conditions in the
future Mixed farming and improved
methods of cultivation WILL next
year, save more to the farmers OF
North Dakota than they will stand to
lose this year. .......
"And the fact should not be lost
sight of that the failure is essentially
localized. The average contribution
to the produced wealth of the country
will fall off but little, and the United
States is undisturbed in it's great pros
perity. The money centers are SER
enc, the buying power OF the urbar
masses is expanding and the country
is in a position to sustain a much
more serious loss than is threatened
Altogether it's rather a disappointment
to us to observe what a very insignia
cant matter the disappearance Of
more than two hundred millions o.
bushels of wheat from the food sup
ply is to the rest of the country. L
demonstrates the tremendous and va.
ried resources of the country"