The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-06

United States not only for moral, but for material. assistance during the war and immediately after the war is ended The food crops alone are of the money value of s6oOo,00o,O0o and animals and animal meat are estimated at a value of about s4,00O, ,000. Could the cotton harvest, which was apparently the greatest on rec ord. have been marketed at what in re- cent years have been normal prices, the aggregate of the entire farm products would have been about S30O,000,000 more than the estimate made by Secretary Red field.
 The magnitude of this harvest is ac- counted for by the experts. first, because of unusually favorable climatic condi- ticns. There was no oppressive drouth, nor was there any wide sweep of scorch- ing winds. If there were unfavorable weather conditions, these were confined to comparatively small areas, and so vast is the agricultural domain of the United States and so varied is the agricultural industry that there can be weather con- ditions which cause harm in some parts of the country which are more than off, set by favorable conditions in others.
 Another reason which the experts regard as good is the sagacity which American farmers are now using in the cultivation of the soil. That, to some extent, explains the magnitude of the harvest of winter
 wheat. It also points to the coming of the day of which James J. Hill made
 prediction several years ago when. by reason, of highly scientific cultivation of the soil, expedient use of fertilizers, the
 l<,.- -&,%s .f1~ it is placed and the considerable diver sity of agriculture, the farmers of the United States would find that the money value, estimated upon the commercial basis of their yearly crops, was at least $1o, ,000, ,0O0,000. One of the best lessons con- tained in the estimate made by Secre- tary Redfield is the demonstration that the American farmers are learning the expedient and the scientific manner of cultivating their farms.
 What These Figures Mean
 | Secretary Redfield is careful to say that these gross figures of $10O0O, ,0OO, ,000 do not stand for net wealth or for cash received or for profit or for income but they rep resent the commercial basis.
 | The distinction seems rather finely drawn, yet experienced men of business 1 have no doubt about the meaning winch | is in this statement. For the country as
 a whole, s1O,O00, 900 represents the com | mercial form or basis of the farm prod ucts of the United States in the past cal endar year. Ultimately, this great sun will be so divided that part of it can be estimated in the form of cash received by the farmers, who will thereby be en-
 abled to find out what their net profits are and who will also know what their
 net income is From one point of view
 Secretary Redfield is right in saying thai
 these figures do not stand for net wealth
 and yet they do stand for wealth created l by American farmers in the year 1914 By and by, when distribution of it has taken place, 1t will be possible to esti. mate what the net new wealth created by the American farmers in 1914 was.
 Some time in the present month thu people will learn from official statemen, issued at Washington what proportion o1 the entire production of the United States in the year 1914 is represented in our ex ports and what proportion is utilized
 within the boundaries of this country