Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-04-09
CROP IS
 l LARGEST EVER l RAISED IN U. s.
)epartment's Forecast is 837, 1000, Bushels.
EXPERIMENT TO FINANCE CROP
Otal Value Of Production May Amount To Two And A i.alf Billion Dollars.

Washington, April S.-Forecast by
 he department of agriculture today
 hat the nations wheat crop would
 otal S37 ,0O0,O0O bushels, the largest
 rop ever grown aroused immediate
 peculation as to the cost to the gov
 rnment of such an enormous yield. Under the bill passed by congress in he closing days of the last session., he government is obligated to pay he difference between the guaranteed brice of $226 a bushel and the world market price for every bushel, not >nly on winter but of spring wheat Produced.
 The total value of the winter wheat krop on the basis of an S37 .O00. 900 bushel crop forecast would be $l.- t91 ,620,0OO. The spring wheat crop, boon to be planted, cannot be est- hated at this time but department bf agriculture officials today predict ed it would range between 225,00O.- boo and 300,0O0,00O bushels. which would increase the total value of the
  Two and a half billion dollars. Discuss Financing.
 The part of this two and a half billion dollars that the government must pay to maintain the guaranteed price was matter upon which off Icials here declined to comment. It fwas said that the factors influencing |the world market price, such as pro- Auction in Argentine, Australia and FOther countries and the European de- Emand, were too numerous to make kany prediction at this time. The de- |partment of agriculture has no infor |mation as to estimated wheat produc |tion in the other wheat growing countries of the world.
 Officials expressed the belief today that there would be a good foreign demand for American wheat which would take care of the nations sur plus and while the loss to the gov ernment through it's price guarantee may amount far into the millions of dollars, so far as the actual wealth of the country was concerned, it simply was taking money from one pocket and putting it into another. Th9 money, it is said, will go into the pockets of the farmers of the coun try and officials believe the forecast indicates farmers will be more pros porous and possess greater potential buying power than ever before in the history of the country. The enorm- ous sums farmers will receive for their wheat, it was said, would find Its way back quickly into circula- ton, thus adding to the general pros perity of the nation.
 Expect Big Surplus.
 Today's forecast also indicated that America will have greater surplus than ever before. The United States requires for its own yearly consump- tlon about 5.3 bushels of wheat for each person within it. With approx lmately 110,000,O0O people in the United States and adding approx imately 75,O00,00O bushels of wheat winch is necessary for feeding pur- poses, the demands of this country thls year are estimated at more than 65O.00O,000 bushels.
 With a spring wheat production estimated at from 225, 5,00O00O to 300,- oo0,OO0. it would appear that the sur plus available for export would be m the neighborhood of about 45O,- 900 bushels.
 During the war, the greatest quan- llty exported in any one year was about 335,000,OOO bushels so that the available supply this year will be considerably more than 100000 ,000 bushels above the maximum ever ex- ported, even when practically all the warning, allied and neutral nations were depending upon the United states as the main source of their food supply.