Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-05
Drought Scared Plains States
Pray for Rain and u. S. Aid
Many Crops Already Beyond Recovery;
Federal Help Called Not Enough

souri, were added to Colorado,
Wyoming. New Mexico and
Texas.
Six more States-Alabama,
Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia and
Tennessee-have asked to be in
cluded.
Still as of today, the situation
appears slightly better than it
was 10 days ago, when nothing
but heat soaked the country
from Georgia to wyoming and
Canada to Mexico.
Since then. spotted rains have
raised dabs of green in some of
the driest States-Texas. Colora-
do, New Mexico. Kansas and
Oklahoma.
But scattered rains like these
have fallen before in the last
four years. and always the rnois-
ture has faded in a few days OF
weeks.
Even in the South, where the
drought isn't as old and tough
as in the Plains States, the rains
of the last week weren't enough.
For example. Kentucky received
an average of 1.24 inches, the
most in any week since April.
The rain helped tobacco, but
most other crops were too far
gore to be saved.
Timely rains also were re-
ported in Pennsylvania, Indiana.
Illinois and Minnesota. But in
these States, too, the word was
the same; more rain needed,
and even that wouldn't revive
some fields.
The Governments emergency
program Is aimed at helping
livestock men hang onto their
foundation herds. The Govern
ment has agreed to pay half the
cost OF shipping hay into the
Federal disaster areas. The Ag-
riculture Department also will
pay a subsidy of so cents per
hundred pounds for corn. oats,
barley and grain sorghums. The
subsidy will go to the dealers.
and ranchers can then buy these
grains at cut-rate prices.
Feed Prices Higher.
But this program will leave
feed prices somewhat higher
than they were last summer I'M
der a more liberal Federal
emergency program. For ex-
ample. you could buy a bushel
of corn last year for 81. Now it
will cost something under $3.50.
That is one reason for grum-
bling in the drought areas.
Another is that farm spokes-
men in some States believe more
territory should have been in
cluded in the disaster program.
In Missouri. President Eisen-
hover declared 76 counties ELI
gible for relief Fred Heinkel.
president Of the Missouri Farm
ers Association, said he thought
all OF the States ia counties
should have been included. He
was dissatisfied, too. with the
feed program.
New Mexico ranchers have
complained that the feed pro-
gram is slow in getting started
and that there's too much delay
in deciding who Is eligible for it.
All Oklahoma Dry.
All of Oklahoma, except for a
few scattered spots, is dry. Ex-
perts said there is little differ
ence between the Is counties
approved for Federal aid and
the other 81. The recent rains
gave cotton and peanuts a
chance to make fair crop. but
were too late to do much good,
II ally, 1oIe pastures ana 1eeQ
crops.
Texas now has % counties
eligible for disaster relief.
Thirty-seven more have asked
for it. That would make total
of so. But Mr.. White said that
actually IS counties-stretching
from the Oklahoma border into
Southeast and South Central
Texas and into far West Texas
around Midland-are in critical
shape. He figured this section
of Texas has lost $125 million
worth Of cotton, more than $l4
million worth of grain sorghums
and so much pasture 1t can't
even be calculated.