The Washington herald., 1917-12-18
PREDICTS POOR
CORN HARVEST
RchmondH. Edmonds Tells
Holland Last Seed Crop
Is Disappointment.

Although the government at WASH
tngton reports officially that as much
corn was. harvested in the fall Of this
year as win fn s.15s 4aI.9oo bushel bas-
kets and that the money value Of this
one crop II somewhst In excess Of
H,Ooo, 200. 900. nevertheless. some not
very satisfactory reports come from
several Of the most important corn
producing States which refer to the
forecast for the harvest of. cern next
autumn Richard n. Edmopds, Of
Baltimore, who Ia esteemed as one OF
the most highly qualified grain ex-
perts. some weeks ago called attention
to the fact that. although the corn
harvested this year makes q new
record and although the money value
win be approximately equal to the
aggregate subscriptions to the two
Liberty Loans. nevertheless much OF
the corn was notsof good quality and
some Of II was 80 poor that It must
be used for fodder. ef-
This statement is confirmed by re-
ports which were received In New
York today from some OF the corn
growing States There IL probably
to be q most acute situation in the
spring due to the poor quality Of seed
corn. In fact. the situation Is so
ucspcEalo IndI cApSTIS nave Deen
summoned who have been occupied
for . month in Investigating the corn
situation They now report that the
quantity OF good seed corn is SO
small as to Justify serious apprehen-
sion respecting the harvest of next
fail. This Is due to the fact that
no small part Of the recent corn
harvest Is so soft that It will be i'm
possible for IL to germinate. The
corn which is harvested In Iowa, Ne
braska and Illinois Is not very de-
sirable for seed purposes. In the
corn producing States Of the North
west the supply of seed, which
when planted should germinate, is
the smallest in. years. Those who
deal in seed corn have almost none
on. hand and have been greatly dis
tressed for three or four weeks be-
cause they are unable to secure In
any quantity sound corn of the
kind that will germinate well.
A Question of Economy.
The experts reported yesterday that
IN their opinion there is only one So
luton of this important problem pos
sible. That Is a solution which the
farmers themselves in the corn-pro-
ducing States Of the North and North
west must in the interest of true
economy adopt They are advised by
the experts. Immediately to begin
sorting over all the corn they have
on hand lof itself a work of magni-
tude) and having done that to throw
out the ears which are excellent and
then dry them and testing them so
that it can be learned whether the
seed will germinate.
II the area affected by this unfor-
tunate condition was small then lit
tie or no heed need be paid to 1t. But
IL Is very large area 1t contributed
possibly 50 per cent Of the corn har-
vest this year. Today the outlook un-
less the danger can be met and over
come is that there may be a large
reduction in the acreage Of corn
which otherwise would be planted in
the spring. The United States will
be In need next year Of corn even
more than is the case this year.
When that procession of auto trucks
rolls on through the country between
Detroit and New York loaded with
munitions or war which are to be
placed at the service of our govern
ment for ourselves and our allies, then
the prediction which -',s made some
time ago in Washington that within
a few months it would be learned that
the auto trucks are greatly facilitat-
ing transportation Of supplies and mu-
nitions viii be justified.
II was a prediction based on expert
ence. The experience, however, was
not OF the kind which made 1t possi-
bic to concentrate the attention Of the
public upon this commercial utiliza-
ton Of auto trucks chiefly for war pur-
poses. For some months those who
dwelt on the line Of the Boston post
road between New York and Bridge |
port had opportunity every day to see
trucks, not in procession, but one by
one and at long intervals, loaded with
munitions that were manufactured In
Bridgeport and designed for shipment
at New York to the Allies. Within a
few weeks there has been q smaller
movement of this kind between Bridge
port and New York, but the cessation
Is only temporary. Before spring
comes there may be a procession Of
auto trucks hauling munitions from
Bridgeport factories to New York
which win be In length and even spec
tacuiar demonstration equal to the
procession Of auto trucks from Detroit
TO New York which is about to be on
the road
Encourages by Railroad Men.
The use Of auto trucks for the pur-
pose Of relieving congestion upon the
railroads has been earnestly recon-
mended by the railway war board.
That board has recently urged a
greater and greater use OF motor
trucks as well as cooperation with
trolley lines especially for handling
short freight hauls.
In addition 10 this the railway war
board Is strongly disposed to make
every possible use OF water transpor-
tation lines 30 that IN that way in CO.