The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-08-14
THE YEARS HARVEST
By HOLLAND

New York, August 13.-(Special)-f py
 reason of the appeals of the government and such substantial aid as it can glVe' | the farmers of the United States harvest next wear 1,0oo, ,Oe00eO bushels of wheat l that will be no more than James J. Hill asserted some years ago could be har- vested if only certain wise methods were adopted and if large areas or ul- cultivated lands available Tor wheat should be brought within the reach or
 the farmers Mir Hill took issue with John W. Bookwalter, who at one tune was tEe democratic candidate for gov 1 ernor Of Ohio and who after his deteat I spent much time in studying wheat con ditions in the United States and else where. MT. Bookwalter predicted that within 10 CT 15 years the United States | would raise no more wheat than was suI- ficient to meet domestic demands lie l foresaw, as he thought, the coming or 1 the day when we would be compelled I to import wheat.
 1 MT. Bookwalter's predictions were not justified by the event. By reason or the inspiration of James J. Hill, Howard Elliott and others, vast amounts of new wheat lands were opened for cultlva- | ticn i'll the northwest and states like | Mcntana, which at one time produced l little or no wheat, astonished the coun- 1 try by the magnitude of the aggregate production and the amount of bushels 1 produced to each acre. Only year or so before MT. Hills death he said in private conversation that there was only l one consideration and that was one which could not be controlled by any human agency which would make 1t | impossible to harvest a wheat crop in the United States in single year or as much as o0,0oo,0oo bushels The con tingency to which he referred was eli matic conditions. These have this year seriously impaired the crops and in the northwest which has become within 20 years enc of the chief wheat raising
 sections of the union, the weather has | played sad havoc North Dakota is a
 state in which MT. Hill was much in 1 terested, believing that it's possibilities l for very great cultivation of wheat were l equal to those of any state in the union. This year notwithstanding highly com petcnt work of an organization which
 undertook to persuade the farmers to in- | crease their acreage. the crop situation | in North Dakota is discouraging, for | in the eastern third of the state the out | look is for only a fair harvest and in the remainder of the state 1t is de-
 cidedly poor.
 l ox,1 rorI 11nft
 when he was president of the Northern l Pacific Railroad company, looked for a n,a agnificent harvest of wheat in Mon ] tana, realizing that nothing but bad
 weather could cause them to meet with disappointment. The climate has been very bac this year in eastern Montana, l where the harvest yield will be no bet ter than fair. In the western half of the state the prospect is for a fair harvest, at least. In some parts of North Dakota they win harvest not l more than 12 bushels of wheat to the acre and in other parts from seven to eight bushels. Minnesota, on the other hand, Is likely to maintain her splendid reputation as a wheat producer Re- ports from Minneapolis assert that the wheat fields that stretch for many miles northwest of that city are in good con dition.
 1 It is not to be presumed, however that l unfavorabie weather will affect the har- vests of wheat next summer all over the
 country, for the wheat belts are of vast l extent And if the law of averages hold
 true, then next year the climate should l,o b f ;,,1
 The report from Washington that the
 Secretary of Agriculture is to undertake
 such agitation as will inspire confidence that the wheat harvests of next year may
 be as much as billion bushels, is spoken
 of as very significant at least respecting
 the views of the government as to the
 length of the war. Furthermore, it sug-
 gests to those who have given the appeal
 careful consideration that the government I at Washington believes that the year 191s
 will be the crucial year of the war, for
 in the midmonths of that year we shall T probably have attained the high degree
 of efficiency in all directions which Is
 necessary if we are to look with confi-
 dence upon the outcome of the war.
 A billion bushels of wheat will furnish
 not only an adequate supply for domestic
 consumption but should provide surplus sufficient to meet the needs of the allies
 The Washington authorities believe tha, wheat is almost as essential as war
 munition as is powder.
 If the additional acres that are needed fairly well to guarantee harvest of a billion bushels of wheat are cultivated, there must be in the first place assur- ] ance that the farmers will receive ade- quate financial assistance. The banks in
 the greater agricultural divisions. espe-