The Washington herald., 1917-08-14
HOLLAND LETTER
The Biggest Daily
Financial News Feature Of
the Counhy's Best Newspapers.

II, by reason of the appeals OF the
government and such substantial aid
as it can give. the farmers OF the
United States harvest next year
i billion bushels of wheat, that will be
| no more than James J. Hill asserted
some years ago could be harvested,
| II only certain wise methods were
adopted and if large areas of uncul-
tivated lands available for wheat
should be brought within the reach
of the farmers. Mr.. Hill took issue
with John w. Bookwalter, who at
| one time was the Democratic candi-
| date for governor for Ohio, and who
| after his defeat spent much time in
\ studying wheat conditions in the
| United States and elsewhere. Mr..
! Bookwalter predicted that within ten
or fifteen years the United States
would raise no more wheat than was
sufficient to meet domestic demands.
! He fOresaw, as he thought, the COM
| ing of the day when we would be
compelled TO import wheat.
Mr.. Bookwalters predictions were
not justified by the events. By rea-
| son of the inspiration OF James ].
| Hill, Howard Elliott and others, vast
amounts of new wheat lands were
opened for cultivation in the North
west and States like Montana, which
at one time produced little or no
wheat, astonished the country by the
/ magnitude of the aggregate produc-
/ tion and the amount of bushels pro-
| duCed to each acre. Only a year or
so before Mr.. Hills death he said
/ in private conversation that there
| was only one consideration and that
was one which could not be con-
! trOlled by any human agency, that
would make it impossible to harvest
| wheat crop in the United States
| in a single year of as much as a
| billion bushels. The contingency to
which he referred was climatic con-
ditions. These have, this year, ser
/ iously impaired the crops, and in
| the Northwest, which has become
within twenty years one of the chief
wheat-ralsing sections Of the Union,
the weather has played sad havoc.
North Dakota is a State in which
Mr.. Hill was much interested, be-
I lieving that its possibilities for very
great cultivation of wheat were equal
! to those OF any State in the Union
This year notwithstanding highly COM
! petent work of an organization which
undertook to persuade the farmers to
| increase their acreage, the crop sit
uation in North Dakota is discourag-
! ing, for in the eastern third of the
State, the outlook is for only a fair
! harvest and in the remainder of the
State it is decidedly poor.
So also, Mr.. Hill and Howard Elliott,
when he was president of the North
ern Pacific Railroad Company, look
ed for a magnificent harvest OF wheat
I in Montana, realizing that nothing but
/ bad weather could cause them to meet
with disappointment. The climate has
/ been very bad this year in Eastern
| Montana where the harvest yield will
be no better than fair. In the west
! ern half OF the State the prospect
( is for a fair harvest, at least. In
! Some parts of North Dakota they Will
harvest not more than twelve bush
( els of wheat to the acre, and in other
parts from seven to eight bushels.
! Minnesota, on the other hand, is like
| ly to maintain her splendid reputa-
/ ton as a wheat producer. Reports
from Minneapolis assert that the
wheat fields that stretch for many
miles northwest of that city are in
good condition.
/ 1t is not to be presumed, however.
/ that unfavorable weather will affect
| the harvests of wheat next summer
! all over the country. for the wheat
/ belts are of vast extent. And IL the
| law Of averages hold true, then next
year the climate should be as favor
, able as it was in 1914 and 1915. The
report from Washington that the Sec
! retary of Agriculture is to undertake
| such agitation as will inspire conf
| dence that the wheat harvests of next
year may be as much as billion
| bushels is spoken of as very signifi-
cant, at least respecting the views OF
/ the government as to the length of the
war. Furthermore, it suggests to those
who have given the appeal careful
| consideration that the government al
! Washington believes that the year 1879
! will be the crucial year Of the war,
! for in the midmonths of that year we
shall probably have attained the hign
degree of efficiency in all directions,
which is necessary If we are to look
with confidence upon the outcome of
| the war.
A billion bushels of wheat will fur
nish not only an adequate supply for
| domestic consumption, but should pro-
vide a surplus sufficient to meet ths
needs Of the allies. The Washington
authorities believe that wheat Is al
most as essential as war munftion
as Is powder.
II the additional acres that are
: peeded fairly we'll to euaIaptee q has-