Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1912-09-06
CROPS ARE GREAT
viii Be Bigger Than Last Year,
but Still Short.
..,u.,on. Drawn About Worlds Har.
vast Prospeets From Reports Re-
..lved at the Department OF A.
r,euIture - EstImates Gathered
From Almost Every Quarter.

r,cuIture 49, Estimates Gathered
From Almost Every Quarter.
washington.--The season Of year
h.a come when the department Of
.griculture is getting a line upon the
.roy,ing crops Of the world and draw
Ing conclusions about harvest pros
n.cts. It affects the value OF crops
At home and also points with some &C
curacy to the likelihood Of prices for
,oodstuffs six months hence.
The department estimates are gath
cred from almost every quarter Of tho
world and include q vast deal Of off,
c,al information. All In all, 1t 10 more
reliable than tho information which
comes from commercial sources, be-
= cause of the evident interest Of com.
mercial authorities in influencing
nrices. The information Of the de-.
nartment of agriculture 10 compre-
hensiye. 1t furnishes much about the
rreat food staple. wheat, but also
much about feed for animals, about
apples and divers fruits, barley and
hons, in which brewers and masters
are concerned, faxseed, which is Of
moment to the great paint industry.
and so on through a long category.
The wheat harvest in Europe is now
BEGINNING. 1t Is plain that the yield
IA to be much better than last year.
Russia in later times IL always an
uncertain factor as to wheat. The re-
ports from that great domain are al.
ways late. 1t looks as though Rus
sia would raise 70O,OOO,OO0 bushels OF
that cereal this season, which is above
the harvest in Russia during 1909 and
1910. The Russian wheat crop, de-
pleted by severe drought In 1911,
amounted to hardly 500,000,000 BUSH
els.
Wheat conditions in central and
western Europe are not quite as good
as in 1911, and a wheat shortage OF
about 100000 bushels is expected
there; but, even taking this into &C
count there is promise that the wheat
crop of all Europe this summer and
autumn will be between 100,000,000
and 15O,000000 bushels more than in
1911.
Field crops, such as oats and hay
and other cereals, In which the Eu-
ropean yield for 1911 was phenomenal
ly small, are much better this season,
but sufficiently short to warrant q
continuance of good prices. The first
cutting of hay in the European coun-
tries bordering upon the Atlantic
ocean has been noticably short. This
will be felt the more keenly because
the surplus crop carried over was al
most nothing.
The English wheat crop will be
smaller than last year. The French
wheat crop, although sown on 100000
more acres than in 1911. will not ex-
coed that years yield materially. The
great object of agriculture in France
Is to make the country self-sustain-
ing, but this will be the third year
when the French farmers, In spite Of
the high agricultural tariff for their
protection, will not raise all the food
stutis the nation wilt require. Imports
Of wheat into France were 100000
bushels in 1910 and 125, O0O, 900 bushels
In 1911.
The Spanish wheat crop has been
seriously affected by drought this sum.
mer, and the product will be less than
hA FOL n
expected to show some shortage over
1911. In the Scandinavian countries
wheat, however, is promising we'll, but
their crop Is comparatively small.
Wheat shortages are reported from
Hungary and Roumania, but these will
AFFECT the international market rather
than the consumption requirements at
home
Canada has become = mighty fac
tor In the raising Of wheat to fur
n1sh bread for the world. Tho wheat
acreage in Canada has been increasing
py leaps and bounds in recent times,
and 1t is claimed that 3,750,00o addi-
donal acres have been sown there dur
Ing 1912.
Nowadays men who study the
world supply Of food products are
constantly looking away to the south.
ern hemisphere. This is the begin
ming OF winter in Argentina, but the
outlook for tremendous acreage Of
wheat there is much emphasized.
more acres will be under wheat in
Argentina this year than ever, and
mat is true also of daxseed and oats.
IN Australia the sowing has been re-
aroed over wide region by the lack
VI rain, and the drought will probably
result in quite a reduction In the crop.
considerable anxiety exists through
otltlsh India as to wheat, because the
nonsoons have not come with their
accustomed force.