AMERICAN GRAIN HARVEST.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 416, 27 January 1909, Page 5

AMERICAN GRAIN HARVEST.

.JIUP.OSJNC, FIGURES. "WHY MINERALS AJtE MORE IMPORTANT. .. The though a great manufacturer's also still, a colossal farmer, .fie grew. as/much 1 wheat in. the. United States last year, aa, would furnish-all.the bread,and* soones 'and .cakes and biscuits required for. a : hundred New,.Zealands -for a whole twelve . months; /The.-yield. wa5.661,602,000 bushels; We nulhon New,Zealanders eat 0n1y'6,000,000. bushels, of wheat and its products in a year: . And even this is rather more than good manners proscribe,, for the average - amount used per -ncad of., all the. civilised peoples V'is , less than 5} bushels per head; This • average. takes account of tho babiesand the biscuits . ,®y nibble,-, as : the hard-stomached adults. .Brit in. maize the IJnited."States farmers • did ; 'even' greater.v things. : . The output, of ' maize was -four;■;times.'greater; than 'that of .wheat.^ -1t:wa3.:2,668;651,0.00 bushels;'■■ What • a •cpuntryi ipr-.chicken-.feed 1 " Maize as ' tbe American farmer's chief, cereal crop; its ■'vol-' umo . exceeds, that of . all the. other cereal crops.put togeth'er; It sqemsi'uiifltting'that a oounwy whose 'typical.'inhabitant is" Usually" pictured as a lean and wiry, individual'should be/.producing, and, doubtless eating largely, . j food whoso .fattening properties are predominant. Apart from tho quantities turned into the famous American W and bacon,the American must.he finding that .therelis, • money to. be. i made, somewhere out', of the products of maize. / , ' .Tho oat crop.iß sljghtly heavier than'that of wheatit.,amounts to 807,156,000 bushels, the. barley crop amounts to 166,756,000r'ahd that pf rye to. 31,851,000. , All' the crip i ; totals. we header,' than those of last;seasdiv S l #' tha !i those of the year .before.' ! ~ Although\America: has. been,; fast -increasing its population; it is hot -increasing , its output of cereals, Four-.thousand million, bushels of grain,are not.enough for ihatgreat people to produce. Here are the figures for three ■years in contrast:— • . . .v,

. The values .of : thesß:crops to the- American farmer ;9n;.;his ; farm- as-; estimated ' by'theOrop Reporting Board of tho Amorican De-' partinent of were approximately as follow:— .-•• - ■ : 1 Value. J--1908. crop. x •' ■ 'SjP ; v,.......... ; 325,000,000 V' S Wheat ,' . 125,000,000 '. , -Oats-.-, 77,000,000 .' Barley '- 1 20,000,000 ' . Eye ...... . ; 5,000,000 '. The total value of all the agricultural productions of the United State's, last year: was about £1,560,000,000. The value of, all the minerals produced in ■ the ' same year was about £414j000,000.-.-This is scarcely more than one-quarter of tho value of tho faTm products. Yet the "Commercial and Financial Chronicle" of New York considers the minerals more important on the ground that they, afford more employment. "The'agricultural "productions(says that journal) "m arge part are in their final form when they, leave the farm—that,'is,, very, little is added ■ to their value by subsequent processes' before , they reach tho consumcr—while, on the other nand,.;the mineral products: are mainly'raw materials, whose value is enormously added , "> in numberless different ways before they 1 reach their final stage.!' Here is a humiliating thought for our farmers/who have been' in,the habit of contrasting.the huge dimensions of our agricultural exports with the meagre pittance sent-out by,the other industries. . TALL CROPS. A RECORD RETURN. Our Christchurch correspondent writes p- ■ There are some tall crops in Ashburton • County this.year. A farmer, who resides'on ' the north side of the river, 'opposite the Forks,, has a crop of 180 acres of Canadian oats standing seven feet high. His Siberian oats : (200 -acres), attain > height of six feot, 1 ■ while.the wheat (100 acres) stands iquito.:six ; feet.:. Although so tall, the crops are vcrv robust,mid have not suffered . from- , tlie , - winds .and. rain which; prevailed some., time ago, and stand erect; ; The work of'harvesting is now ia-operation; and-it is founi

necessary toVsefc the':machines as high as possible - soVaa not to take too; much straw, - Despite, the sheaves .will be. of quite .unusual length,; while the - stubble will be nearly, two: feet in length. The oats are ! estimated to yield , from seventy to seventyi five bushels per acre, while the return from. ..the wheat should be over sixty bushels. The | other crops in the vicinity are. uniformly exceptionally good, and the. return in the I neighbourhood promises to constitute a rei cord. •

items from the country.

Ragwort has made its appearance on some of the properties in the BalJanbe District. • The Nireaha Co-operative Cheese' Factory 'paid out £1284 12s. 2d. for milk supplied during the month of December. The-, payment .for ;butter-fat was at the rate of Bd.per lb. •Probably few co-operative companies (says our local correspondent) have made such progress for the short time it has been gunning. For, the. same , month three years 'ago the amount paid out; was £331 6s. 2d. v.,. Excellent f oat crops are being obtained at Taratahi East (says our Mastertoii corresome returns showing a yield. of v ifroih 74 .to nearly 90 bushels per acre. 1 ' Some heavy-Crops of oats have- beetf obtained in : the Belvedere district; .Wheat, also, is re- ; turning good yields. '/ j: Aoertain farrnerin the Rangitikei district has/ been, losing a number of young ducks lately.There is an ideal creek near the farm, and when the young ducks waddle ■home after a day on the creek, some of them arfi found to be minus a foot; * some have ..lost; two feet, and in a .short time/out of a; .clutch •of ten or a dozen there are only, three' or four whole and .sound. •■' Most of the crippled ducklings are killed off by'the owner to ;end, their pains, but one. or. two usually 'survive, and amongst tho poultry on the farm' there are to be seen ducks hobbling round;, on'one - foot and a stump. The large eels : ;in ; the . creek evidently consider ducks' feet.a' peculiar dainty.; and are always on the look out for a fresh..supply. Sometimes' mangled young ducks are fotind drowned' .having-presumably been dragged ' under' the water-and held, there while the eel enjoyed .his tit bit at leisure.

Output. ' .1908. • 1907.' 1906' i' ' ' Bushels. Bushels. Maize- ..;2,668,651,000 2,592,320,000 ' 2,927,416 091 Wheat ;...' 664;602,000 : 634,087,000 735,2Go!9?0 Oats v : 807,156,000 , 754,443,000 864,904 542 Barley;...166,756,000. . 153,597,000 ■ 178,916,484 Eye ... 31,851,000 * " 31,566,000 : 33,374 $33