The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-06-29
The Report From Secretary CO.
burn of State Board.
Condition of Wheat Is 80 Per
Cent on Big Acreage.
CORN IS IN GOOD SHAPE, TOO
Five and q Half Million Acres
Are Growing.
COburn Gives His Last Public
Word to His State.

Within a day Of his retirement as
secretary Of the state board of agri-
culture. F. D. Coburn today issued his
fnal crop report showing the greatest
wheat crop in the history Of Kansas.
While Coburn does not estimate the
yield of hard winter wheat in bushels.
his report shows a condition of .9S on
an acreage of S.S7S.00o. Based on an
average full crop Of 1S bushels to the
acre. the yield of winter wheat for the
state will be 154 million bushels.
In addition to the record wheat crop,
Kansas this year has $500, 900 acres OF
corn that show an average condition OF
e3.8. Condition of oats is given at S.1.
with an acreage for the state Of 1.47O.-
600.
The showing for the bumper crop OF
winter wheat is the greatest in the his
tory Of the state. In 1908 the state pro-
duced a bare "a million bushels of win
ter wheat. That was the record crop
up to that time and had not been sur
passed until this year.
Mr.. Co5urn says in his report:
Naturally the absorbing feature of
a report ut this time is the Kansas
winter wheat, which in the extent OF
its acreage, general high condition and
assured unusual aggregate yield has
never been eQualled in any state or
, similar area in the world. While con-
ditions were not propitious alike in
every neighborhOOd or every county,
the general average is extraordinarily
high, and in many counties the situa-
ton is SO surprisingly favorable as to
make a statement of the bare facts, to
those unacQuainted with Kansas, seem
gross hyperbole.
IAN impC rtant developmen in con-
nection with this years wheat, since
area sown appears considerably larger
than earlier information suggested.
ASSESSORS returns received from forty
two counties show per cent increase
in the wheat acreage in those counties
over former estimates by correspond
ents. expanding what was already a
record breaking acreage. Should Off
cial returns from the sixty-three coun-
ties yet 10 hear from maintain this
ratio OF Increase it would mean that
more than nine million acres were
sown to wheat in Kansas last fall.
Substituting the assessors figures
foi che AZ counties. and using the
growers estimates for the others, the
present investigation is based on
probable sowing of S,873,OOO acres. OF
this. in spite of vicissitudes, cores
pondents report that less than three
per cent failed to mature. and that
acres CGHlc 10 harvest Will
a general average condition of 9S-a
point and a half above the April con-
dition-and perhaps the highest at
reaping time in the history of Kansas.
1T is interesting to note that the
shift in conditions since the April re-
port were for the better in the west,
while the east suffered some loss, by
acreage plowed up or abandoned, yet
the total loss for the state is approx
mately the same as earlier indicated.
Some western fields that were unprom-
Using two months ago because of dam
age by winds improved surprisingly in
the favorable weather since and will
yield good crops. while in the north
eastern counties Hessian flies have Sc
verely damaged fields that promised
been a cause of damage here al
there. Considering the total sown,
however, the area that failed is sur
prisingly small. indeed.
1T should be borne in mind that
the figures of acreage sown to wheat.
as given in this report. are not final.
and are subject to further revision
either way, according as returns of as
SCISSORS from the other 63 counties
vary. up or down.
"Thirty-six counties report conditions
of 100 or more, while but twenty-five
were in that class in April Riley and
Gray lea with a condition Of 103 for
EACH followed by Ford. Harper, Hodge
man. Ness, Rocks, Sedgwick, Shawnee
and Sumner with 102. and Cherokee,
Harvey, Meade. Montgomery. Pawnee,
Reno Saline and Smith with 101.
.'Thirty-seven counties, mostly in the
central third of the state. comprising
the so-called wheat belt,' and each with
10000 acres or more Of wheat, aggre-
gate 6352, 900 acres, with a condition of
$685.. A block Of eight counties in the
southwest ccnspicuously notable for its
extra fine wheat and extensive acreage
is composed of Clark, Meade, Ford,
Gray, Hodgeman, Ness. Pawnee and
Edwards counties. Their total in wheat
is 1.160. 900 acres. with a general average
condition Of 1912 at reaping time-a
most extraordinary showing for any
wheat country. Reporters agree that
the quality of this years grain is uni
formly excellent
Harvesting has been progressing
swiftly, barring Interruptions now
and then. here and there. by rains that
at the same time have promoted a
vigorous growth of corn. Wheat cut
ting is completed in many sections.
and is being pushed rapidly else
where as rapidly as equipment and
available supply of labor permit.
Threshing has begun in the southern
counties, and the hum OF the separa-
tor will soon be heard in all direc-
tions.
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