Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-10-09
Lamson's Grain Letter.

LdIllSOu IoApS' q So.' -N'
Masonic Temple; Phone 1881
Chicago, Oct. "a careful study or
the government report on corn leads
to the feeling that later estimates OF
the crop will have to be increased il
the truth in regard to this immense
corn crop is to be appropriated. NO
one who has Travelled over the corn
belt will question the governments fig
ures on acreage hut local reporters for
the government are apparently as
much inclined to be pessinisttc on Il \
yield Of corn as they were early on the
yield Of oats. Il will be noted that
between June l and Oct. /. the gov
eminent has raised its estimate on the
oats crop 100000 900 bushels, which is
over Is per cent on the June estimate,
and 1t is doubtful whether they have
told the good news in full, for Iowa is
given an average yield Of forty seven
bushels while private reports on actual
threshing returns on several hundred
thousand acres show average yields OF
about f1fty-efght bushels per acre.
With an average yield Of twenty-six
and one-half bushels Of corn per acre,
the government figures crop OF
3,211. 100000 bushels. An average yield
of thirty bushels to the acre for the
entire country would give a crop Of
$3.50, 100000 bushels. The October esti-
mate is based on an average Yield OF
thirty-one and one-half bushels per
acre for the eight leading states in the
corn belt, as follows: Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Mis-
souri, and South Dakota. To bring the
average for the entire country down to
twenty-six and one-half bushels per
acre the rest of the country must be
figured as yielding on the average not
over twenty-one and one-haf bushels
per acre. And lnasmuch as the states
in which corn is being gathered are
increasing their yields as compared
with early estimates, is 1t not reason
able to expect that husking returns
will show generally very much better
yields than early estimates?
Seasonable observers IN the central
corn states believe that the corn crop
will turn out much as the oats crop
did in yield and that this crop prob
ably never will be officially shown to
be as large rs husking returns Will
!::ct:e- Il is our firm belief that we
have raised this year and will secure
q corn crop Of somewhere between
three and a half and four billion BUSH
els. We believe that producers are
making a mistake in not marketing
their oats and that unless their atti-
tude changes, they are likely to make
the same serious mistake in corn. We
are advising al those who consult us
to rush their oats and corn to mar.
ket as fast as it is possible to do so.
Nothing approxinating prices for old
corn can be expected for new crop
of the size indicated, especially in view
of the lack of animals for feeding pur-
poses on the farm. The farmers Of
this country may be holding 500,000000
bushels of corn a year from now and
still have had available for farm use
and marketing more corn than was
ever fed and marketed in a single year.
Prices now ohtainable should be eX-
ceedingly attractive for contracting
ahead for such a corn crop as we al ,
this year raising would under pre-war
conditions bring the farmer 40 cents
a bushel or less in the main corn belt
and when he is offered two and half
times what he would expect under nor
NAL conditions, he should be well sat
isfied with his war profit, and even be
satisfied to paw his war taxes without
Q special call from the collector.