The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-08
HOLLAND WRITES
 OF WHEAT BELT
 OF UNITED STATES
By HOLLAND.

By HOLLAND.
 Stretching westerly from the great
 lakes and bounded on the north by Can
 ada, there is wheat belt which reaches
 over into Montana and takes in Minne-
 sota, a part Of Wisconsin and the two
 Dakotas From that wheat belt no re- ports of the condition of winter wheat in April are received. Tho reason is ex- cellent Little or no winter wheat is raised in that belt. There they depend chiefly upon spring wheat Also stretch lins back from the gulf coast is a section Of the country bounded by line which curves in Texas almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and then runs northerly through Nevada into the lower half Of Callfor- nia where little or no winter wheat IS harvested That is also true of the New England states But so far as the rest of the United States is concerned the promise of winter wheat sis excellent. The wheat belts take in half Of New fork state, all of Pennsylvania running as far south as South Carolina and north ern Georgia, and then stretching westerly to the Pacific coast north Of the middle part of California to the Canadian boun dary.
 This as a whole constitutes the national winter wheat belt It takes in much the greater part of the entire United States. and unless the weather should prove very unpropitious, it will yield to the harvest CTS. beginning in midsummer and con- tinuing until early fall, not less than 1 300 OOO, 900 bushels of heat. Upon this promise is based much of the expecta- ton of the establishment of firm and very great prosperity. We thought In 1 1914 that the winter wheat harvest would krarely be, equalled and not for many years excelled. Now five years later lthere is promise of an increase or neariy s3 per cent over the winter wheat harvest !! of 1914. The acreage has never before heen eaualled. This harvest when mar 1 keted will contribute no small part of the new wealth made possible by American i agriculture in 1919, the present estimale ! of the government authorities being that I this new wealth. including cotton and | food grains, possibly stock, will be of the money value of a little over $SoOo'ooooco. A PROMISING FORECAST l If this forecast be justified by the event then American agriculture Tn single year will have created new wealth almost equal to the war debt Of the United States.
 1 One of the interesting, even higniy l important. features contained m this | forecast is the fact that one quarter or this 300, 900, 900 bushels of wheat will be harvested south of the Mason-D1x ! line. Winter wheat is now under cui- tivation in some of the southern states where it never was grown Delore. Ihe best authorities have long held that much the greater part of the south IS available for wheat and that It VIII pc | to the advantage of the industries or the south, especially to the advantage of the cotton growers, if more and more | l~o ~rsx1 fo he winter wheat in the south than has been done heretofore
 | A MONOTONE OF PERFECTION 7 l The chamber of commerce of the United States at Washington, which | has made a careful investigation or twheat prospects throughout the coun- ltry for 1919, states that the conoltioh of wheat as it now is is so high as
 to be without precedent or parallel. Tt | is in fact" the report,says. "a monotone of perfection
 While the United States is presum- ably to demonstrate in a manner here tofore not dreamed of as possible the ability to cultivate and harvest wheat 1 far in excess of that garnered Tn any ether country. nevertheless 1t IS grat Iifying to know that Canada proportion ately is sharing in the wheat prestige
  has now gained. Canada will increase
 her acreage sown to spring wheat un- less the weather be very unfavorab ble' | If Canada meets at harvest time the present expectations and the United States harvests more than f,000.00o,00o b0hels of wheat. possibly 1.200,00o.0oo, \ then the United States and Canada will | be found next fall to have harvested nearly one half of all the wheat grown ! in the world These two nations Of 1.-the northern continent of the American hemisphere are likely to have q sur plus in wheat available for export os l not far from 700, ,0o0.000 bushels. This means not only new wealth in very large amounts. but it undoubtedly means some embarrassment The rail- | road centers win be congested. because | the movement of so much wheat az this will require all possible facilities. | So also storage will offer difficult problem to solve If the railroad aitua- tion 10 satisfActorily aetfled. then the
 transport1fion of wheat for export wil'