The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-01-08
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1913.

HSNo
official Paper Of Grand Fork. County
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1918.
THE GENERAL WHEAT CROP.
Some light is shed on the wheat
crop and wheat producing conditions
by statistics just published by the
International Institute Of Agriculture.
This bureau or institute. is. an organ
ization which is not generally very
we'll known to the public. but 1t has
been established for some time, and
is doing a very important work. 1t
is a sort of cooperative concern, of
which nations and not individuals are
members. and is devoted to the coll
lection and distribution Of informa-
ton, statistical and otherwise. con-
corning the various agricultural crops
of the world. 1t has headquarters at
Rome. Italy. and its membership in
cludes now nearly all the civilized
governments in the world. It keeps In
touch with crop conditions every
where. and from time to time It is
sues bulletins summarizing the in.
formation which it has received. A
study of this information would won
derfully enlighten a great many peo-
pie who appear to think that the
price OF grain depends on the condi-
tons in their own particular country
or locality. and that II the wheat crop
In North Dakota. for instance. hap
pens in a given eason to be a little
lighter than usual. the price should
advance Immediately because Of that
fact These people Of course over
look the fact that wheat Is being pro-
duced all over the world, and that
while the conditions in one section
may be good. they may be bad in
another, and that 1t is the total sup
ply. and its ratio to the total demand,
that fix the price Of the commodity.
The United States is. Of course. a very
large producer OF wheat, but accord
ing to figures given, our production
in 1912 was less than one-lfth Of the
wheat produced in the northern hemis-
phere alone. European Russia pro.
duced nearly as much wheat as we
did. and the Russian empire altogeth.
or produced more than We did
France produced nearly SO per cen
of as much as We did, Canada 80 per
cent. India so per cent, and so on.
Some interesting figures are given
as to comparative yields. The figures
given in the bulletin are in quintal.
per hectare. n to avoid too close
figuring the equivalents in bushels pei
acre are given here in round numbers
These are some OF the approximate
yields in bushels per acre: Germany
80; Austria. 21: Belgium, 80; Bulga.
ria. IS: Denmark, as; Spain. II:
France. 21; Great Britain and ireland,
90; Hungary. %; Italy, Is: Luxem-
burg. "a; Norway. 20: Netherlands.
81: Roumania. 10: Russian empire,
10: Switzerland, 80; Canada, 20; In
Ola. -; Japan. %: United States. 16.
The yield of the United States was
large last year. And yet in compari-
son with the yields of some of the 9TH
or countries it seems pitifully small.
II is easy to account for the difference
between this country and Canada on
the ground that Canada has more vir-
gin land, and this is no doubt the true
rason. as farming methods do not diff
fer materially on the two sides Of the
line in sections of similar length of
settlement But compare what IL be.
ing produced on an acre in the United
States with what is being produced on
an acre in many OF the European
countries. and we find there is greater
difference which cannot be accounted
for on this basis. There are farms
in England, France and Germany
which have been producing crops for
hundreds Of years on which the yields
are double and treble what we are
producing. In many cases those lands
vert years ago producing no more
than our lands. What has made the
difference. and how is 1t possible that
land that has been farmed so many
years is increasing rather than dim.
fishing its Yield? The answer lie SIM
ply good farming. The farmers of
Europe are not wiser or more enter
prising than the farmers Of America.
But they have been forced by the
pressure of conditions to realize that
they must farm better or starve. They
did not wish to starve. therefore they
farmed better. They are finding II
profitable to do so.
So long as 1t was possible In this
country to get along by following the
easiest way in farming. the easiest
way was followed. That is generally
,he rule. Conditions are arising and
exerting some pressure on US. which
make that sort of farming unproft-
able. Because it is proving unproft.
able it is being abandoned. The en-
-%terprising man is the nan who first
realizes the meaning Of what he sees
going on about him. and adapts him.
self to his surroundings. Such men
have already undertaken great chang.
es in their farming methods. They
are the men who are raising hogs and
cattle. who own silos. who operate
dairies. who know whether or not a
given animal is eating its head of,
who study how plants grow. VIVA,
they need and why. who know that
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