The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-08-13
WESTERN CLIMATE
 CUTS WHEAT CROP
By HOLLAND


 New York, August 12-(SpeciaL) )-what
 there is which influences climatic condi- ticns west of the Missouri river in the
 northwest unfavorably, while upon the stretching away from the eatsern shore or that river the climate smiles upon the farmers is question which not even the government experts can answer The fact is that the Missouri river as it flows through the northwest seems to have established boundary line identi- fying the country east of it as prosper ous for the farmers where as much of the country west of it now realizes that in all the contingency of climate is to be taken into consideration.
 For instance, the state of Montana,
 which in the late spring of the year seemed likely to harvest a record crop of wheat, now faces loss of some 30 O00,- 900 bushels In fact, if Montana har- vests as much as 9,OO0,000 bushels of wheat
 the state will be fortunate. When the gov- ernment estimates that the wheat harvest
 might reach billion and a quarter bush els was made fi the spring, it was as-
 sumed that Montana might reap wheat which would furnish as much as 40,000, = 900 bushels. In view of the fact that it is within recent years that thjs empire like state has demonstrated that it may be as great in the production of wheat as it is, and has been in the production | Of minerals and stock, the information which comes today from the far north west that the wheat harvest will be al-
 most failure, would seem at first sight 1 to indicate the state is not to be relied upon as great wheat producer.
 Always when the government estimates 1 of the harvest is published in the late spring there is a mental reservation that the promise of large harvest would be better, justified if it were possible to tell what the summer weather is to be. Sometimes it affects corn. This year the indications are that Indian corn, is to make almost record harvest because the time when damaging climatic influ- ences work havoc with the corn crop has almost passed. The only remaining danger lies in the possibility of early frost.
 A SAVING CONDITION
 The area of the United States is so great and so much of it is available for wheat and other food commodities that l it is inconceivable that there should come climatic disturbances which would un- | favorably affect the whole country. It may be dry and hot in some sections and 1 fairly cool with excellent moisture in oth- i CTS. The climate has not played havoc with the wheat crop of Kansas. but it appears to be working harm to the wheat | CfOp Ol lIc HOitilWCSt, Hot Sdoi Ol tiiO Missouri, but west of that river. They had very hign temperature in Montana, for nearly six weeks. In ad- dition no rain fell. Consequently Mon- tana's wheat crop dried up. Further | more, as the snow blanket in the north west was of much less thickness than | is customary there, streams dried up, be- cause many of the streams depended upon the melting of the snow for their supply. Therefore, as there was no water irri- gation was a failure
 COURAGE OF THE FARMERS The farmers of Montana and of the ! western countries of North and South Da- kota, while greatly disappointed in their V heat harvest, nevertheless have learned l a lesson by which they will be guided hereafter. That lesson is that it is nec- essary to stimulate the development of l irrigatic- and to make secure the sources | of water supply whereby there can be greater and greater expansion of dry Hand farming methods The ingenuity and courage of men who have opened up | these wheat belts are sure hereafter to \ be sufficient to overcome, possibly to eliminate, the effects of unfavorable eli