The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-19

ment asked these executive to state as soon as possible how much puctN"lieae they would need for planting purposes with intent as soon as replies were
 ceived to make proportionate olseliou
 tion of it.
 The replies came to the department about as swiftly as the telegraph serF- ice made it possible, thereby reveallhs the urgency of the demand. some ot them were from governors of states All spoke in terms of qualification at tne prospect of securing q sufficient suppiS of buckwhat seed for rlanting purposes
 There arose, however the question whose answer would show what the nec- essary or best means of securing the | seed was It could only be obtained py purchase and in order to buy 1t was ln- evitable that unusually high prices, ex- travagant prices, in fact, would be set by the owners of this bucxwheat Tor IL There was no time for delay or nag glinr, nor was it possible to drive any hard bargain. Mir. HufH1&n agreed to pay to these exporters the price they de- manded for the buckwheat, promising that it would be a spot cash transac- ton.
 At last he secured the entire amount that had been, until MT Lewis inVesti- gation, under cover. The department al | Washington was therefore, able to ap- portion to the different states the pro portionate amount of buckwheat eacn was to receive and the understanding was that there should be immediate cash 1 payment for 1t.
 PENN. LEADS IN DEMAND l Pennsylvania is one of the leading 1 buckwheat producing states in the union | Whether her authorities asked for more 1 than S0,OO0 bushels or not is not known l but that amount was apportioned to l Pennsylvania The Pennsylvania rall-
 road management having been informed 1 of the emergency and told that the sea-
 son was getting late for planting prom
 ised to furnish ample transportation Tor l 30000 bushels of buckwheat which was
 to be delivered at some designated place
 in Pennsylvania. That railroad company
 was prompt to the minute, so that in a | short time Pennsylvania received 3O0O0 | bushels of buckwheat which, without de- | lay, was planted.
 NEW YORk'S PORTION New York wanted at least 10000 bush 1 els and that was the amount appor-
 tioned to the state The New York Cen l tral railroad and the Erie notwth- | standing the lack of freight cars, prom l ised to furnish a sufficient amount to transport the buckwheat to those sec tions of the state where that Is one of | the principal crops. These railroad com
 panies fulfilled their promise. Other
 states received approximately the propor- | tionate amount of the remaining 70,0OO | bushels of buckwheat.
 1 So speedily was this work done that
 the experts of the department were able
 to report a day or two ago that from these 100000 bushels of buckwheat there
 will be harvested if weather conditions
 are favorable between 100000 and A. l 000 GOO bushels of buckwheat.
 The incident makes it clear how ac-
 lively occupied the department of agri-
 culture is in aiding the government in
 securing large food crops. It also tends to justify the suspicion that until this
 time, when the embargo is within the power of the President, vast quantities ] have been collected by exporters almost secretly so that suspicion might not be
 aroused the ultimate destination of which was Germany.