The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-02-15
CROP AND BUSINESS CONDITIONS
ninth FEDERAL RESERVE DISTRICT

farmers have already become dis
couraged and are planning to put in
other forage crops with a consequent
reduction of the corn acreage. Some
shrinkage of the acreage is newt
able. 1t is still too early to obtain
any accurate idea as to how serious
this will prove to be, but the diff
Guilty of obtaining seed in localities
that have none, and too much de-
pendence upon the quality of seed
supplies that the farmers have in
dividually saved, will likely be two
important factors tending to cut
down the amount of corn grown this
year.
Banks and others interested should
carefully consider this phase of the
problem, and where shrinkage of the
corn acreage cannot be avoided,
every effort should be made to in
duce farmers to replace the shortage
in their corn planting by the plant
ing of other forage crops.
A characteristic instance of the
difficulty in obtaining a satisfactory
quality of seed corn relates to a car
purchased in Minneapolis in Deem
Der which showed termination test
of SO per cent. The same corn re-
tested within the last two weeks
shows only 81 per cent, although
since the date of purchase it has
been properly stored and carefully
handled, and has not been exposed
at any time to freezing weather. The
same low vitality characterizes much
of the seed corn in the district. APP
prOximately the same situation that
prevails in Wisconsin, Minnesota and
North and South Dakota, prevails
as well over the remainder of the
corn section of the United States,
and recent reports from Iowa and
Nebraska indicate that there will be
great difficulty in obtaining suffi-
Gent seed for spring planting and
that the same deterioration in quality
during the winter months is also in
process there.
Montana's winter wheat acreage is
large and weather conditions so far
have been ideal. The wheat crop of
that state will be increased in size
this year if satisfactory arrange
ments for the distribution of seed
can be completed before spring. The
department of agriculture has rec
commended the importation of seed
wheat from Southern Alberta, be-
cause of it's proximity to the wheat
growing portions of Montana and
because of the congestion of railway
transportation. Alberta has at the
present time satisfactory amount
OF wheat of good quality that can be
had for Use in Montana
Price Relation of Other Grains to
Wheat.
A new and peculiar element enters
into the problem of the crop acreage
this year. This will be the first
spring. planting under price regula-
ton by the government This ex-
tends only to wheat, but other small
grains and corn have shifted their
price relation to wheat as a result of
this partial control, and are more
equal to wheat than ever before.
Seed oats, seed rye and seed barley
will be higher this spring than ever
before at the planting season. Corn,
because of its scarcity, has already
reached record figures. Farmers are
talking of planting less corn, and it is
very possible that without some fur
Their price regulation to restore the old
relation between wheat prices and
the prices of other grains, the high
cost of seed, plus it's scarcity, may
deter farmers from planting the us
ual wheat acreage and encourage
them to give more ground to other
grains and fodder crops.
If the prices of barley, rye and oats
remain as high as at present, there
will be more money for the average
farmer in planting these crops than
in planting wheat. While it is too
much to expect that the farmers will
view the question of the wheat acre
age solely from patriotic stand
point, it is clearly the duty of each
farmer to take the urgent demand
for wheat into consideration and to
do his part in preventing a serious
reduction in the total of the 1918
crop.
Banks and bankers might well look
carefully into this phase of the prob
lem and take such steps as are an
propriate to hold up wheat planting
in their localities to a normal level.
There is little question but that seed
wheat for normal acreage can be
provided.
Nothing could be more serious
than for the northwestern produc-
ton of hard wheat to drop off sharp
ly at time when not only our own
people but the armies at the front
and the people of the allied nations
need this important cereal more than
any other one grain.
In the larger centers throughout
the district, wholesale and retail
trade continues on an even keel, and
the industrial situation shows little |
change. Most of the producing con-
Germs are very active, and war bust
ness, either on direct or indirect