The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-09

average one. our farmers are to har-
vest this year an aggregate OF 4,o0O' 7b0,sW
bushels of grain. This amount of itself
Is enormous, unmatched by the agrlcul-
tural statistics of any other country.
This year. certainly, there will be no us
pute about the relative money Nalhc
of the cotton and Of the hay crops. Last
year it was thought that the money
value of the hay crop was in excess CT
the money value cf the cotton crop, al
though not very largely in excess rms
year the United States will harvest about
lO,ooO. GOO tons less of hay than we lar
vested last year And that ei'ferenee rep
resents a great deal of money.
Receive Higher Prices
The record furnished by the department
of agriculture comes at time which is
especially opportune. For, in the hrst
place the record tends to demonstrate
that on account of the relative falling Ell
in the crops as compared with last year
the farmers are likely TO receive higher
prices for their noducts.
But Will they receive higher prices? The
answer to shis question may depend
somewhat upon the form legislation takes
in Washington ami the effect of that leg
islation. Congress, before adjournment,
is undoubtedly to enact into law a radical
revision of the present tariff and a raui
cal change of our banking and currency
law. Nobody is able to do more than
guess what the immediate effect of this
legislation will be. 1t may tend, temper
arily, at least, to such confusion and to
such difficulty in readjusting our buai-
ess to new conditions as surely to offset
the prospect of higher prices for farm
commodities which a short crop wouli
ordinarily justify.
There is one influence which Congress
cannot in any way control. and that ls
climatic Favorable climate in the
United States, combined with the energy
and industry of the farmers and the
adoption of constantly improved IN methods
of farming, will undoubtedly avail to Sc
cure very large harvests. On the other
hand, such climatic disturbances as we
have had since the dog days began 1lay
impair or destroy whatever the enerty
and industry of the farmers have under
taken to secure. Legislation, however.
may be influential indirectly affecting the
prices which the farmers receive for their
crops.
By late fall probably. new tariff law
will be in effect. The assumption at
Washington has been that radical re-
vision of the tariff along lower lines
would tend greatly to reduce the cost of
living. If the new tariff should have that
effect it may oe that it would also reduce
the cost to consumers of the commodities
which the farmers raise. If the bill as il.
reaches President Wilson contains a
clause admitting wheat free of duty into
the United States, it may be that this
tariff schedule will offset the otherwise
inevitable tendency for higher prices
which shortage in our grain crcp
would cause.
Shorta ace in Corn
There is likely TO be shortage in the
harvest of corn of at least SOC, 600 bush
els compared with 1922 The farmers
have nothing to fear from any tariff leG-
islation Sc far Indian corn is con-
cerned. Therefore, presumptively, they
will get a higher prices for their corn
than they could have obtained had the
harvest been in excess of 3,000, 600 600 BUSH
els. But for the most part Indian corn
is turned into meat products, and if the
cattle feeders or those who raise hogs
for the market are compelled to pas Il
higher price sor their corn. it seems to
be inevitable shat the consumers of meat
products will Ultimately be compelled
themselves to pay that increased cost.
Railway managers of this city say that
Notwithstanding the impairment of the
harvests they expect to see, the railroads
whose lines penetrate the agricultural re-
the greater part of their fall transporta-
tion quite as heavy as that of last year.
One of the reasons they give for this view
is the fact that the railroads now are no I
dependent entirely upon the crops for
the gerater part of their fall transporta-
tion business. There is a great diversity
of production in the agricultural regions.
Apparently there is to be a heavy move
ment of commodities of all kinds, for the
retail merchants all over the United
States have begun what seems to be a
fell campaign for very heavy buying.
They were compelled to do this becarse
stocks in the retail stores had been very
much reduced In the past six months
Our bankers say that. notwithstanding
the impairment of the harvest, it should
be remembered that the aggregate of the