The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-05-24
WHEAT BY PENCIL
Kansas Crop Figures VIII Star
tie You, Mr.. Jayhawk.
More Money Than the Valua-
ton of Twelve Big States.
CASH Per CAPITA, S351.34
Enough To Give $4,000 to Every
AlmshOuse Pauper in U. s.
Then of Course There Is the
Farmers Side of 1t.


He checked up his additions, proved
his divisions and verified his multiple
cations. "Ihl be goshdarned if can
believe my own figures!" he said.
The figure fiend had just received
the wheat report of ]. c. MohIer,
placing the Kansas yield at 21S.-
$4,000 bushels this year. With these
figures and the guaranteed price of
$2.26 q bushel made by the govern
ment he had done some lightning cal
culation problems. Then he had got
ten statistical book containing the
last census report and continued the
process. Here are some of the things
he tabulated: ..
with a yield of 1s.5sO,o0O bushels
and a guaranteed price of $2.2b
bushe1. the Kansas farmers will get
S494.0i3,4oO for their wheat crop this
year. wheat IS now selling for more
than the guaranteed price. but he did
not take this into consideration
This enormous price for one season $
wheat crop will put into the pockets
of the Kansas farmers more money
than the 1910 census report showed
any one of the following states could
raise an assessed valuation basis:
Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire,
New Mexico. North Dakota, Utah.
Vermont, Wyoming.
Per Capita S351.34.
According to the 1910 census report,
the farmers will get enough money
from this crop TO give every man,
woman and child in the state $351.S4
if they cared to divide IL up equally
among the states population.
Also, according to the 1910 census
report, they will get enough money
to make a present of more than $1,000
to every almshouse pauper in the
United States If they care TO be 50
Also, they will get enough money
to buy 4,940,134 glasses of beer at lie
cents glass. Naughty. naughtyD
Counting 1000 grains TO the bushel,
Kansas farmers will give to the world
this year 0,130,000,000 grains OF
wheat
Thirteen Billion Loaves of Bread.
Estimating that a busheI of wheat
will make sixty loaves of bread, Kan
sas will give to the world this year
1915, 400, 600 loaves. At 10 cents a
loaf this years Kansas crop will bring
the bakers s1,31L54O,00O, which
means that the ultimate consumer
will pay almost three times as much
for his bread as the Kansas farmer
will get for the wheat from which the
bread will be made and that those
who handle the wheat after it leaves
most twice as much for manufacture
ing and distributing the bread as the
farmer will take in for producing the
wheat.
Is it any wonder the figure fiend
scratched his head?
At a glance it would seem that the
1919 Kansas wheat crop not only
would set an agricultural record that
two years ago could hardly be DREAM
ed of but that it also would make the
farmers of the Sunflower state so
rich they would not know what to do
with their money.
But there are always two sides to a
slick half dollar. And there are two
sides to this wheat dream. The farm
er can figure as well as the figure
fend and no one knows better than
he that all is not gold that glitters or
goes thru a gluttonous threshing ma
chine. No one knows better than he
that even this enormous wheat yield
with the guaranteed government price
is not going to make Rockefeller and
Carnegie and J. Pierpont Morgan envy
him. A good many farmers will even
go so far as to tell you things are
not whole lot better than they were
when wheat was selling for so and 90
cents bushel and in doing so they
Will tell you how the prices of some of
the hhings they have to buy from the
city fellers' have gone up without
any government guarantees.
Edrmer'S Side OF 1t.
The farmers side of the wheat sit
uation has been pretty clearly pre-
sented in an article in the SATURDAY.
Evening Post that was written by Is.
Davenport.
Davenport points out that it requires
plot of ground fifty feet square to
produce bushel of wheat, taking the
country as whole. He estimates
that it takes about an hour of a farm
er's time and an hour of his teams
time to produce bushel of wheat
Allowing the farmer the plumbers
wage of rs cents an hour and allow
ing SO cents an hour for the use of his
team, it is estimated that it actually
costs a farmer s2.47 to raise the BUSH
ell of wheat the government guaran-
tees him S2.26 for. After compiling
these figures Davenport asks:
How in the name of gods did he
do it all those years for 20 cents or
less ?"
Cost to Farmer
Here is the table of figures used to
show that it actually costs s2.47 to
raise a bushel of wheat:
One hour farmers labor.
one hour teams labor. so |
Ohe-tenth bushel seed ................. 30
Qne-tenth bushel-twine, threshing.... %
Interest on land investment. ...... On |
taxes on land investment. ......... 10 |
SOL strength consumed. ............. OS
IoIaI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 50 Al |
but TINS is not the only reason the |
farmer does not get a corner on all |
the money in the world when he sells
ms wheat The high cost of the neces-
sites the farmer has to buy with the |
money he receives for his wheat is
what keeps the bread provider poor
davenport shows that at the govern
ment guaranteed price when the
farmer sells a bushel of wheat the
money he gets in return does not buy
very much these days.
Cost Per Bushel to Buy.
A bushel of wheat will just about
buy cotton shirt and it takes two
bushels to buy cheap pair of shoes
If you are acquainted with the prices
of the shoe stores in the towns of
Kansas you know that you can't buy