VOL. XIX.;
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, AUG. 2,1884.
THE CHOPS.,
*     i'Vj '
<Y/
The General Outlook for 1884,
Compared With Other
Years.
WHEAT CROP.
Tip latest reports from all of the wheat
r'»in* wtions of the West fully sustain
ii* former favorable reports regarding
'.he crop of 18.S4. These reports are in gen-
ttt\ weement that the entire winter and
Trias; wheat crop of the whole country
thliywr will rech above 460,000,000 bush-
'!«. The following shows the production
umully for tho past ten years:
Bushels.
'*)■- — - 480,000,000
;*;■- _ 430,154,000
;";  : .504,185,000
:*|-- - ~ .380,280,000
■"*•  498,549,000
']*  448,756,000
;'~l 420,122,000
Y~   — - •'. 361,194,000
:a  - 589,356,000
:n    .292,136,000
Imports also agree that the quality of the
•teat is very excellent, and will grade
li*h. In very many instances'the crop is
limbing out more bushels per acre than
i« heretofore been estimated, on account
'. the excellent quality. In Dakota the
•trim: wheat yield is put at 20 to 25 busli-
•'.« per acre. Central Dakota expects near-
it m pvxl a harvest this year as the returns
• f l»o years ago. Crops are looking excel-
sly. Some six weeks ago it was feared
'.iit drought might cutoff the crops pre-
titiircly, but frequent rains Bave insured
« remarkable harvest. The increase in
»i»«ce over last year is at least 100 per
"Tt, mil the increase in yield will be, at a
>* miniate, .TOO percent. Farmers have
',< 1 op their interest promptly during a
',"t year. What they will do after an
i' .niint harvest remains to be seen. They
T'lprfibisbly pay up their mortgages and
'.:pi!l loan agents, bag and baggage, to a
V-r ■* conn try.
s"-!ins; in Minnesota was fully three
"*V.« earlier than last year, and the same
'true of Southern Dakota. In Northern
■iVta seeding commenced about two
T*k« earlier than last year, but the fine
»mh«r which has prevailed ever since
'int was put into the ground brings the
";* up almost with those of the southern
'■'fvn. AH report*! agree that the crops
i«rear will be the largest ever grown in
''Vrthwest. Tho increased acreage in
V;r.«.-,u has not been large this year,
r.-.zto the fact that a great many farm-
i. the southern part of the State are
'■'~'.r.z their attention to stock raising.
■'.tli^ds of farms have been turned from
x'v, to corn, oats and barley, and mixed
■ ''>i is now as much the rage in some
sties as all wheat raising was  a few
*n*tt in the entire Red River Valley of
"*iu k doing well, and will be ready to
'""••t full two weeks earlier than last
"■». There will be short crops in some
*;-«• along the Northern Pacific road,
''if to bad seed having been sown and
'i*k.ng deferred rain. But these lo-
ftjj cover only a very small area com-
^filhthe whole, and will make no
•^"Me. difference in the total yield.
• *• Jower part of Ransom, Sargent and
^Jad counties rain was much needed,
but the latest reports say the average now
will be 20 bushels per acre. The fields
along the Fargo Southern road look well
and promise much better than the fields
bordering on the Red river have for several years.
Oregon has increased the acreage of
wheat 20 per cent over last year, and its
condition is first-class. It is estimated the
yield for export will be 100,000 tons. The
Umpqua Valley in Southern Oregon and
inland sections in Washington and Oregon,
east of the Cascades, will, it is estimated,
yield 1S0.O0O tons.
OTHEB CROPS.
The present season has demonstrated the
fact that corn can be raised in Southern
Minnesota as well as in Iowa and Nebraska, and the crops at this time are
further advanced than in either of the
others.
In Northern Dakota the progress of tho
crops during the past ten days has been
rapid and satisfactory.
The late rains in the central west have
been most excellent on the corn and other
crops. In some sections the drouth was
getting quite severe. The reports from all
northern sections of Illinois, Ohio and Indiana, and other localities mention good
rains, and that the corn is in good condition.
From Iowa the reports are to the effect
that the corn crop never gave better promise than it does the present year, and with
everything favorable from now until
husking time it will yield from 45 to 50
bushels per acre. Hay is of good quality
and mostly saved in good condition. It is
yielding from one to one and a half tons
per a'cre. Oats are yielding well also in
nearly all sections of this State, Illinois
and Ohio.
Written for the Indiana Farmer.
Some Facts About "Wheat.
BY JOHN M. SlVsHl..
For the last 12 years the average annual
production of wheat of the States and Territories has been slightly above 350,000,000
bushels. The largest aggregate yield was
in 1880—108,549,000 bushels. Yet even
then the average yield per acre was only
13.8 bushels. The average yield for the last
12 years has been a fraction above 12 bushels per acre. It (the yield peracre) has not
increased. The increased aggregate production has been the result of an increased
area sown. The deterioration in the fertility of the soil and increased unfavor-
ableness of seasons have been equalled,
but only equalled, by the improvements
in culture. The assumption that the seasons have become more unfavorable, usually scouted at, as based upon the disposition of the farmer to grumble, is not without solid foundation, for the destruction of
forests has certainly produced greater
extremes of heat and cold, of drought and
rain-fall. This, more than any lessened
fertility of the soil, antagonizes the farmer.
This is shown by a comparison of tbe aggregate yields of '80 and '81. The area in
wheat was almost the same; but the crop
of '81 was less than that of '80 by over 118,-
000,000 bushels. This decrease was owing
almost altogether to a disastrous season.
This no better culture can guard against.
But both Hand soil deterioration will likely reach  the highest limit in a few years,
in tho older wheat producing States, when
we may expect the averago,produetion jhv
acre to slowly reach higher figures.
There are certainly good reasons to hope
for a higher average yield per acre. His
certain that tho limit In improvement in
methods has not been reached, and each
year tho farmers of the great wheat producing States aro doing better work.
Those States which aro tho largest producers of wheat are thoso which possess
an unrivalled soil for agriculture. Tho
New England States together grow only a
throe week's supply. The middle States
produce only IT per cont of their homo
consumption. Tho deficiency in the South
is the same as that of tho middle States.
Twelve States and lw» Territories comprise the list of reliable surplus wheat producing Statos. Thoso aro found nortli of
the Ohio river, In tho Missouri river valley,
and on the Pacific coast. It will bo soon
that all of thoso havo a fertllo soil, and
that soil and tho seasons and climato are
spocially adapted to the production of this
cereal. Yet wlion Ohio, Indiana or Illinois
produces a crop that averages 18 bushels
per acre it is thought to have done unusually well. In Belgium, upon soil not originally so well adapted to tho production
of wheat, and which has been cultivated
much longer than ours, the yield is twico
what itisintliiscountry. In thiscountry,
I venture to say, there aro not a few farmers wbo produce crops of wheat that will
avorago year after year 25 bushels per
acre. They produce such crops by careful
selection of seed; by tbe saving and application of manures, perhaps reinforced by
commercial fertilizers; and by the most
thorough preparation of the seed bed and
careful manner of sowing. Itis to ^anticipated that, as tho result of a variety of
causes, before many years tho aggregate
increase will bo owing to increased yield
per acre rather than increased acreage.
With our present area, the crop could bo
doubled by better methods. And it is
only a question of time when these methods will prevail. I hope to bo permitted
to state them more at length in future articles.
Wheat has always been the bread grain.
It has l>ecn cultivated from the earliest
ages, and always for bread. It was a chief
crop in ancient Egypt and Palestine. It is
tho most valuable of all the cereal grasses.
The Increaso in its cultivation and use has
marked the progress of agriculture and of
wealth in many countries. JJappy aro
the common people who may use it for
bread. The first exportation from Chicago, now the greatest market in the
world, was in 18.18, when 78 bushels were
exported!
It was long supposed that central Asia
was tho native country of tho cultivated
wheat of to-day. However, a few years
ago a plant growing in the region of the
Mediterranean was converted, by cultivation, into wheat. This transformation was
successfully made in tho south of Franco;
and though for a long time doubted, has
been abundantly confirmed by experiments in Scotland and Kngland. Thus
we feel assured that wheat.—the bread-
grain of the millions for ages—was developed from a grass by cultivation, and that
the excellence and value of it may be yet
materially increased in the samo way.
Yet  perhaps   this  improvement   will
NO. 31.
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come more immediately by what may l>o
termed grain breeding. This assumption
is supported by tho analogy presented by
•lock brooding. Whilo better care and
better feeding havo created and increased
excellence among our farm animals, the
careful selection for breeding purposes of
the beat has retained and accumulated
that excellence, and Judicious crossings
havo developed better forms and bodily
composition. So in tho improvement of
heat. The characteristics of wheat aro
marked. Tho selection of thoso grains
possessing tho greatest number of desirable characteristics would load to the improvement of tho cereal, jutt as selection
in brooding has led to tbe improvement
of animals, (iarden vegetables bavo been
improvod to an almost wonderful extent
by seed breeding, and it cannot bo denied
that corn has been greatly Improvod
within the last 15 years in the samo way.
But as wbeat is rarely, If over, selected
especially for seed, unless it bo to select
the poorest, shrunken grain, the improvement, if any, has boon owing altogether
to better methods of cultivation. In England some experimenters havo trebled
tho yield of wheat by careful selection of
tho most productive beads for seed, year
after year. This would indicate an important line of action in the future.
Saving Sorghum Sood.
Ciood seed is a very important Item in
raising a profitable crop of cane. If wo
want to socuro tho best results wo must
plant sood from cano of the very best
quality. To do otherwise is certain to result in a decrease In the yield, as well as
in tho quality of molasses.
Every cano grower knows that cano deteriorates very rapidly unless special pains
are taken in selecting tho seed. Tho general plan, and It Is one that should bo
abandoned by overy farmer who wants to
make cano raising a profitable crop, is to
cut, top and strip tho cano, letting tho
seal drop to the ground. Any timo after
tho cane is worked up, that suits tho convenience of tho farmer, a so(llcicnt number of heads aro then plckod np, and
either thrown into the loft or granary, or
tied together and hung up. Tho next
spring tliis is cleaned up and sowed or
planted. In a year or two tho farmer concludes his cano has run out and ho procures some from a neighbor, served after
tho same stylo. The result Is readily foro-
seen. The crop yields from thirty to
fifty gallons per acre, and of course tho
crop is not a profitable one, and tho farmer concludes.that raising sorghum does
not pay; that he can buy molasses cheaper
—which he can when the yield is that
small.
My plan, (and while I find it so far to
boa goodono, I do not hy any means
claim that it is tho best), is to go through
the cane as soon as tbe earliest matured
heads are ripe, select from these, not only
tho thickest and tallest stalks, but also
thoso which havo matured tho largest
seedtuft*. Select a larger number than
you want to save, then discard from tho
lot all the poorest. In this way, during
seven years that I havo raised both amber
and orange cane, I find the quality better
instead of deteriorating.—N. J. S., in the
Defecator.