The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-12-07
SNOW is SAVIOR
KAN. WHEAT CROP
MOHLER ASSERTS
Fields Thruout State Greatly in
Need of Moisture.
No Other Precipitation as Valu-
able as Snow.
200 MILLION BU. PROSPECTS
Value of White Blanket Over
State IneStimabIe.
Weather That Stops Fighting
Also Aids Allies.
200 MILLION BU. PROSPECTS

Snow is slowing up the fighting in
sectors along the western front in
Europe. Snow in Kansas is helping
to win the war against the kaiser.
]. c. Mohler, secretary of the state
board of agriculture, today declared
the statewide snow of incalculable
material and psychological value.
With wheat acreage greater than
the combined area of Massachusetts,.
Connecticut and Delaware, the snow
today is the first crop saver. Kan
sas has a nine and half million acre
wheat crop. Favorable weather con-
ditions will mean $50 to 200 million
bushels of wheat next spring and
summer. 1t means 800 to 400 million
dollars to Kansas farmers. 1t means
also that Kansas will do more than
her share in caring for the food de-
mands of the allies.
Dry Fall Retarded Crop.
The recent fall has been the driest
Kansas has ever known. The dry
weather has put a great crimp in
wheat prospects. In some of the
wheat counties the rainfall of the last
three months has been a mere trace.
Now a blanket of snow covers the
state. 1t means every drop of the
moisture will go into the soil just
where it falls. The snow means a
revival of crop conditions and a new
hope for the wheat growers. The
psychological effect is good. 1t brings
good cheer. More than that it brings
material improvement of conditions
and a revival of prospects for another
big wheat crop.
Secretary Mohler declared today
the snow is the most profitable mois-
ture. In an informal statement, he
said:
THE snow that is reported as fall
ing over the entire state, is providing
the one thing that was most needed by
the fall-sown wheat--moisture. In no
other form is it more welcome, for
the moisture thus precipftated viii be
thoroly taken up by the soil with a
minimum of waste thru run-off. Most
fields are in such condition that the
covering of snow will be held, and
particularly is this true in corn-stalk
ground sowed to wheat of which
ther was a large area. A great deal
depends on the depth of the snow
fall, the time it remains, and the con-
ditions after it disappears, but the
fact that wheat fields are receiving
much-needed moisture is a cause for
thankfulness.
Value Inestimable.
when one realizes the tremendous
consequences contingent on sufficient
moisture for the prosperity of our
nine and a half million acres sown
to wheat. we can only regard the
present snowfall as a benefaction. 1t
might be truthfully said to be of in
calculable value Its psychological
effect will be worth a great deal, too,
for we always feel cheerier and more
hopeful when moisture comes to re-
lieve dry weather. 1t drives pessi-
mism away. 1t is well to remember
that the aggregate area sown to wheat
in Kansas this fall exceeds the total
land surface of Massachusetts,, Con-
necticut and Delaware combined, and
the importance of timely moisture on
this vast area in relation to the ma
tion's food supply cannot be overem-
phasized The blanket of snow that
is promised for our -, heat now is the
best thing that could happen"