The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-06-28
PROMISES FOR
 WHEAT HARVEST
By HOLLAND

-
 or three Gays ago several New York
 business men returned from Oklahoma
 bringing with them wonderful reports
 or two wealth producing conditions in
 that state They seemed hardly to know
 whether to speak with more enthusiasm
 or the new development of rich oil pro-
 ouclnS properties in northern central
 oklahoma or of the prospects of the
 wheat harvest in that state It was
 thelr privilege to see wheat ready for
 the reapinS machines. They were con-
 iioent that much of the Oklahoma yield
 ol wheat would average at least 50 bush
 els per acre. Of course, the new oil properties are yielding larger revenues l than VIII come. from the wheat harvest
 In Oklahoma, and yet if the forecast of
 that harvest is found to be correct and
 II the price is maintained at @.25 per
 oushei then the Oklahoma wheat harvest
 VIII yield in money about s7o.O00.0oo ] Ihe washington forecasters estimate
 that Oklahoma will produce a less num-
 Der bushels per acre than came from
 nef wheat fields last year. and yet not
 much less. But in view of the fact that
 the wheat harvest will show a very high ] average in bushels per acre, not less
 than 50, and in many cases as much as O. the government forecasters may De i compelled gladly to revise their esti- mate.
 1 or course the promise of the nations | wheat harvest, perhaps as much as billion bushels, almost certainly as much INr,.,
 government and by our allies, since we shall be able to supply the greater mart ol the needs of the armies in Europe Wltn wheat and still have left enough "lth proper economy, for our own use but there is another point of view l "hlch offers quite as gratifying a vision as does that which pictures forth many sHlpioads or wheat crossing the Atlantic to feed the armies in Europe For from that point of view it is possible to learn what wonderful advances the United setates nas made in the production of wheat. About 20 years ago one of Eng iahu ablesG men of science sounded a note of warning. saying that the world S wheat production was not Keeping pace with the worlds increase in population. therefore unless the ingenuity and wis dom of men made it possible greatly to increase the harvest of wheat the people ot the United States would not grow
 enough for home consumption Tbs monition, coming from so great q man as Sir William Crookes, caused world wide comment But in the United states 1t has now been demonstrated that we can steadily increase our har- vest of wheat providing that conditions are favorable, and we are sure not to have pad weather every year.
 In 1850 the total production of wheat Tn the United States was only 40GG0, 600 | bushels, almost all of it being har- | vested east of the Mississippi river Men Of capital and of faith, between 1850 and | lS60, constructed many railroad lines l which penetrated the virgin soil of the , vast prairies west of the Mississippi So ! also American invention was found lo~ be equal to this new opportunity, as | Cyrus Mccormick, who years earlier had l made with his own hands a reaping | machine, demonstrated to the pioneer | farmers how valuable an accessory for 1 their agriculture this apparatus was 1 Railroads, none of which had in 18gD | reached the Pacific coast, were built | across the prairies east of the Rockies. 1 and these with the reaping apparatus l made it possible so to increase our wheat ! cultivation that the year before the civil | war began the United States harvested l somewhat in excess of 200 coo, ,00O bushels l Of wheat Thus we were demonstrating | to the world that we were about to in- clude in our foreign commerce wheat in addition to our exports of cotton ana tobacco.
 AS IT WAS IN 1890
 By the first year of the final decade l of the past century our farmers, who had been aided by railroad construction and by labor saving agricultural appar- ates, harvested and marketed considera- of hole of wheat. An so it went on until in the year 1915 the farmers harvested a bill | lion bushels and are likely to garner as 1 many bushels this year.
 Sir William Crooles was answered. l Our own energy, our own expenditure of great capital and the energy, patience 1 and faith of the wonderful army of pio- neer farmers made 1t possible for the | United States to take first rank among | the nations of the world as exporter of | wheat.
 In addition science and the leadership | of men like James J. Hill Howard El- | liott and others demonstrated that the 1 bleak climate of the far northwest was | favorable to wheat cultivation, so that l Minnesota, the Dakosta and Montana | became great wheat raising states l Furthermore, all of these influences l combined to develop splendid wheat pro- ducing results in Oklahoma, in Kansas l and in other parts of the southwest, | especially those which were known T | half century ago as the Great Amer | ican Desert"
 Californa astonished the world a few 1 years after gold was discovered there by | exporting wheat, and earlier the terri tory of Oregon, which includes what are [ now the states of Washington and Ore l gon, was eultivating wheat and export ing it.
 As recently as 1900 the leading author- l ties m England were still persuaded | that the United States must remain. SO | far as its international trade is con cerned, almost exclusively an exporter | of agricultural products, principally | wheat and cotton. Ten years later these | same British authorities were astounded when they learned that our exports of | manufactured products were in money l value practically the same as our ex- ! ports of agricultural products.
 WHAT THE SOUTH IS DOING
 Not the least interesting feature asso- | ciated vita our agricultural and indus | trial advance is the development in the | south of very large wheat producing ca pacity.
 ,tat win ;e