The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-03-21
MISSOURI CROP REPORT,
MARCH, 1919

! MANU- 1919
jefferson City, Mo.-Missouri crop
prospects for 1919 are very bright,
with soil conditions almost perfect;
condition of the 4,243,000 acres of
growing wheat about the best ever,
fruit prospects not damaged by win
ter except north of the river, land val
ues advancing all along the line, and
the farm labor supply gradually in
creasing, is the good news of the
grand old "Show You State, in the.
March crop report by E. A. Logan
and Jewell Mayes' of the Federal and
State Departments of Agriculture.
In st. Francois county the prevail
ing wages per month is $4,000 with
board and $500 without board. The
county supply Of farm labor is 100
per cent of 1918. The ruling acre val
ue of land in this county with i'm
provcments is $65.00, and without i'm
provcments, $4,000. The condition of
soil is 92 per cent of normal. County
condition of wheat is SO per cent. .
The stock of corn in the hands OF
Missouri farmers is but 36,l42,2OO
bushels against 101,430,00O last
March. The ten-year average is 80
per cent, with AZ per cent last year,
and 81 per cent this year. The 1918
corn crop shipped out of the county
in which produced was only per cent
against 20 per cent for the 1917 crop
and 10 per cent for the usual year.
The merchantable part of the crop was
70 per cent, with rs per cent in 1917,
and SO per cent average.
The wheat still on farms is II per
cent of the 1918 crop, or 5,S46,940
bushels, against 4,056,000 in the bins
last March. The average amount OF
crop on hand in March is II per cent.
Sixty per cent of the 1918 crop was
shipped out of the county, while the
ten year average is 48 per cent.
The oats supply on farms is but 30
per cent of the 1918 crop Of l5,9l0,-
$50 bushels against 80 per cent last
year. Shipped out of the county is
20 per cent, against 80 per cent last
year, and Is per cent average. The
barley on hand is 20 per cent of the
1918 crop, or $4,000 bushels, 10 per
cent shipped out of the county against
usual IL per cent.
Land values are jumping, and sales
are active, with a much larger num-
Der of transfers now than for several
years. In nearly all sections owners
only need to price their land to IND
buyer. Inquirers and purchasers
are coming in from states to the east
and north All classes Of land have
Increased from four to eight dollars
per acre over last year. The great
est demand is for land in those sec
tions with the greatest yield of grain
crops, and not so much attention is
paid to the character of the improve
ments. The average value of poor
plow lands in Missouri is sol per
acre; good pillow lands, sol; average of
all pillow lands, $72; Of land with i'm
plovements (houses, barns, fences
etc. SS2 per acre, and sos without i'm
provements.
The farm labor supply is $40 pei
cent over last year, but still 20 points
under a normal year. By the middle
of the season it is expected that the
matter will adjust itself, as the re-
turning soldiers arc increasing the
supply, and with the return Of still
larger numbers from France, by june
the supply is expected to be practic'
ally sufficient. There seems to be
reluctance on the part of some Of oul
returning soldiers to go back to the
farms and resume their old places
The lack of labor is partly met by the
use of better teams, better methods
and more tractors. The average rate
for farm hands for the 1919 season
in Missouri is $36 per month with
board, and SAG per month without
board, which includes house rent, gar.
den, feed for chickens, pigs, cows
and use of horse, and in sundry in
stances a share of the crop as bonus
The acreage of corn, according tt
the Investigations just closed, will bt
reduced from 1918 because of the un
precedented wheat seeding. The oats
acreage will be reduced for the same
reason. In few counties where the
1918 corn crop was very short from
drouth the outlook is for an increase
of the oats acreage. The spring seed
ing of clover is per cent more thar
last year. Some farmers are reluc
tant to seed clover and other grasses
at the prevailing high prices for seed
yet a large acreage of meadow is be
: ing sown, as Missouri farmers arr
v anxious to return to grass the ha!
' and pasture lands broken up for foot
s crops during the war.
f The hogs killed on farms this yea
!. has been reduced to "A or one-half o.
: hog per farm, below 40, the usua
n number. The apparent shortage il
e farm pork supply is offset in a few
r counties by the greater Weight of thu
e hogs killed, while in many counties
t the shortage is accentuated by kill
e ing lighter ones.
8 The condition of apple buds AM
o trees, at this time is 8S per cent nor
n NAL, with no very serious damage tt
e buds during the winter. In the sou
v thern portion of the State, buds O
v early blooming varieties are quit
t well advanced. However, no serious
5. damage is expected in March, bu
: April is most dangerous for the set O
&c u2-uwa umv> A en0 U0