Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1912-10-23
A new CROP RECORD
BOuntiful Harvest Shown in October
Government Report.
FIVE BILLION BUSHELS GRAIN.
Corn Exceeds All Other Cereals
Iowa Leads i'm the PrOduc-
ton of Oats.

With the harvest of all grains ex-
cepting corn completed the October
report of the Department of Agricul-
ever raised in the United States.
The aggregate of all grains Is s.
413, 900, 200 bushels or 1,146,000, L 900
bushels, or 26.7 per cent over the ag-
gregate of 1911, and $4,000, 600
bushels, or IL per cent above the
previous high mark of 1906.
| 1t Is the first year known when
crops generally have been as near
perfect as it has been possible to
raise. This is the result of favor
able weather conditions at the right
time, bringing, the crops along and
enabling proper filling. 1t is also
due to more care given to the selec-
tion of seed and the preparation of
the ground.
The big crops mean large busi-
ness for the country generally, par
| ticularly the railroads, which In the
last six weeks, have moved about
161, 100000 bushels more than last
year. Good prices have been secured
and farmers have sold more grain
than in any previous year and se-
cured fairly satisfactory prices. The
railroads are short over $4,000 cars
and every available box car In the
west and northwest is in use.
In North Dakota the wheat crop
| Is 146,000,000 bushels, or double
that Of last year, and is the largest
crop ever raised by any state. The
yield per acre there averaged rs
bushels. In the three Northwestern
states there are 66,00O,00O bushels,
or more than double last years
yield, and 33,000,OO0 bushels in ext
cess of the previous high record In
1909.
New records were made for every
grain, also for potatoes, hay and flax
Seed The only decreases from the
high record are buckwheat, rice and
tobacco and winter wheat. The lat
ter was cut short by extreme winter
weather in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
and Michigan and is short 100000
bushels from last year.
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson in
discussing the crop report and the
great showing made by the farmers,
said:
.'The crops are the heaviest on
record. The season has been favor
able, but some credit is due to the
wide efforts made in late years by
the federal government and the
states to help farmers throughout the
country to get better returns from
the average acre"
The world has been searched for
better plants by the Department of
Agriculture and it's scientists have
been creating new plants, by hy-
bridization, for the several localities.
"Twenty-eight million pieces of
literature have been sent out by the
department in addition to the ad-
vices from the state stations along
these lines.
The features of the report are
the enormous harvests of corn, oats
and spring wheat. More than three
billion bushels of corn, almost bill
lion and half bushels of oats and
three hundred and thirty millions of
bushels of spring wheat have been
grown.
Iowa with 219,7S0,00O bushels,
Illinois with 1S2,726,000 bushels,
Minnesota with 122,932, 200 bushels,
and North Dakota with SO, ,13S,000
bushels, were the principal oat pro-
ducers. In each of these states the
yield per acre this year was almost
double last years yield.
''As the result of the large crops
and of the confidence prevailing
throughout the country, the railroads
have bought supplies in large volume
and all the car equipment plants and
the steel mills are running at full
capacity. The latter are sold ahead
on their capacity for the greater
part of the first six months of
1918"