The Republican journal., 1911-06-29
ABOUT. WHEAT.
p,oduetion, Expectation and Consump-
u tion of the United States.

~ estimate that the 1911 wheat crop
~ !, he the largest ever produced in the
',,+sd States, as announced by the De-
.r,ent of Agriculture, lends interest
y. no records of production in, and move
-,s INTO and out of the country of
D ...r and its products, as published by
Bureau of Statistics, Department of
v, .r,erce and Labor. Wheat has always
~ an important factor, both in the
,;octjon and foreign commerce of the
!-..,sa States, and continues to increase
.r.nortance in the matter Of produc-
tbough sometimes decreasing in the
,,o,itv exported.
The wheat production in the United
...-.s IN 1870 was 236 million bushels;
,s>a. 49S ID million; in 1889, 400 1-2
5f,r iropping to 399 million in 1890,
-. .svancing to 612 million in 1891, 522
lila, in 1900, and 665 million in 1910,
1ngb even higher records We're made
7a1 74S million bushels, and in 1906,
gnHion.
,,.e has been said about the low
..a,.+ uer acre of wheat in the United
..-ss when compared with that in Euro
ri. .oIrtries. and it is doubtless true
-. wheat production in certain coun-
"a. If Europe, where great attention
-var to the care of the land and the
.orly Of proper soil foods, is greater
-. ARE than in the United States. On
!. other hand, however, it is equally
nes and interesting that the yield per
,rs in the United States is increasing,
..arg 4veraged 1873 bushels per acre in
MA against IA bushels per acre in 1907
J4Y~. u 1-2 bushels in 1904, Is BUSH
in 1874 and 10 IL bushels in 1885.
Tiae the production per acre of course
|-rgates from year to year, the aver
.,s reduction per acre during recent
|.s-s has clearly been higher than the
,r-rsge for the last decade or two. This
|:g5t Increase in the quantity, coupled
nth the material advance in price,
,,ught the average farm value per acre
.r 1909 up to S15.62 per acre, against an
rs-qge Of about half that figure in the
,,-io! from 1890 to 1900.
Meantime the quantity Of wheat re-
srsd for domestic consumption has
-ga,ly increased, while the quantity ex-
|u---5 has been reduced. In the fiscal
s.r lsl0 the quantity retained for con-
anpr,on was $50 million bushels, being
ags- han in any earlier year; and the
|rs9.ty exported, 81 million, which was
5. than in any fiscal year since 1877,
vi. inc single exception of 1905, when
,g a million bushels were exported.
| 1891, the exports aggregated l63 mil
| m ausnels, and in 1902. the high record
sg 70 wheat expectations, 235 million.
These figures of wheat expectations,
IS proper to add, include both that
a,- in the grain and that in the form
dr. The share of the wheat exports
,- form of flour in the fiscal year 1910
! ss AS per cent, and 1908, when the
Mrtr exported was about double that
A n q
sars a which the expectations are ex-
HnaI5 small, the share exported In the
u rr of -four is larger than in years of
ag wheat exports. In 1905, for ex-
If -pe when the wheat expectations
hue Ell the lowest figure in many years
= .lion bushels-the share which
Fr- the form of flour was $50 per
s-t against "a per cent in 1902, the
. -1 record year in wheat of exports.
Jh= fiscal year which ends with the
hs-1J month, the quantity of wheat
l?o-tas will probably be less than in
aI the total for the II months ending
H. May having been but % million
ashes against IA million in the same
4Dntns Of 1909, and of -four 9 1-3 mil
1 barrels, against IL million in the
Enc months of 1909, indicating total
r th~ year not to exceed rs million
ls1-s Of wheat and the equivalent of
4 million bushels in the form Of flour
local of approximately 70 million
Sle.s Tor the fiscal year 1911, against
Il million in 1910, and making for 1911
H. smallest wheat export record in &c
aTs Except the abnormally low year,
Wis Wien the record was but A million.
II Europe is our chief customer of wheat
34orted in the natural state, while the
Iget proportion of that exported in the
I'M Of -four goes to the tropics and the
Afe1t Of the 81 ga million bushels OF
ieat eXported in the 10 months ending
Es April, nearly II million went to the
ied Kingdom, 3 1-2 million to France,
Billion to Belgium, and l million te
aada. Of the flour exports, amount.
to 1-3 million barrels in the 10
nths under consideration, 1-3 million
mt to the United Kingdom, about two.
'f1s Of million to Netherlands, about
~ss-fourths of million to other parts
Europe, three-quarters of a million
lba, and nearly two-thirds million te
Yer West Indies, about l million te
jth America, (about one-half being t.
'A a'one) more than quarter mil
10 China, more than three-fourths
smlllion to Hongkong (most of which