The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1910. THE WORLD'S WHEAT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 753, 28 February 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1910. THE WORLD'S WHEAT.

• / : A : perennial interest/attaches 'to the'; success \or ;otherwise : of the world's wheat production, and the reason, for /this .lies in ' the/ 'exceptional urgency, of/ ah; ■■; adequate ; wheat /production. '■'!. The //exhaustion of a mineral 'product .may : he looked ; upon ■'with : some;;■ degree : of equanimity; as a more or ;less gradual process; the failure foreverione year of the world's wheat crop'would be,/a ' world-wide, calamity./; /Pro-, fessor /.Crooks .startled. ■• the/''wheatconsuming / world a few / years ago with the, announcement/that the!pro : ductivity of the area, devoted/to the .cereal had reached .its; limit., /-This wf's,based upon the/supposition;that' that' .the known/fields /of /.nitrates were/ being .exhausted;., andi.'consequently- there would., be ah: insufficiency', for 'maintaining/the' productivity; of the.soil.'/..Two.things'have occurfod;td upset thistheofyV.,'First; we/have the application of science ;Which has enabled us tb; obtain ..-pi-' trates/'■■ from the./ atmosphere; and., also,; and this, is important,, byi scientific selection to produce more 'prolific /kinds -of .■ wheats-suited .to.; 'the several...wheat-growing ; belts;. ■'■ -The second point'is that the/wheat! area' has /been/greatly extended,';' and ythis also: is in a\ measure due/to science/ It /is* interesting//to'note'that /the' wheat-growing area of the world'now amounts lb; 240,000,000 /acres) something like 45,00O_;00p Caere's:•': having'" been- added: within; the .last/.fiftcen; yoars..; Population has.;increased by about;; 101,00b;0po"/ persons; within the same, period, .and'it.-is considered that jat.ythe present/time the': area 'under,/wheat is', quite'sufficient,; with ;a normal :harvest, ; to supply the' de'mand./ /At first'glari'ce', this',' appears satisfactory,', but/ a /close - examina-•tiori'-Vwill- show.-that- there is no .mar-: gin .for contingencies. :/,■ Wheat-grow-. ing' is/dependent upon/climatic con- • d.itioris .arid 'a normal harvest' cannot always be relied upon! . The, population 'of; the /world.;is steadily, increasing.:/ The natural consumers of wheat are receiving yearly;accessions from/the ranks'bf those .who. did; riot previously consume wheat foods,' ..and it/is /obvious/ that', the /demand, for the; cereal'will continue to expand,' while prices are bound! to.show: a wide range of 'fluctuations, .according./as/tne harvests 'are-good or! ,bad. • !./: /!;,. .", .

.A/Some vast changes/are taking place 'in the production of ;wheat./. A few. 1 ■year's..ago Argentina:,and' Canada, arid even India; .were negligible factors in; 3he wheat/"si.tuatioiv/while. the/United States,were 'air'imports ant.-;,;..1t ; is not :so; now.- - /Argentina' is ripw;.- the principal:'exporter'.'of wheat -to-'Europe,:' Canada has 'become a considerable factor,: .thanks to. the'wonderful facilities provided by'the ; rapid extension of :• railways.' The:Canadian;.wheat' area-'.will,;be considerably-increased:;:duf.ih'g;/-the. next decade,'arid expansion may also, be Expected An} Siberia and :.Man-: churia, which -countries; are said to: be;well suited for the cultiyatiori of the cereal.: It, is. ; interesting:tb;'re-. fleet that .less than.' a '.quarter,.of a." century ago Siberia'was ; lookedupon as, ; the■'-..;home•• of- ; -joolitical.,- exiles, a sort of Russian New Caledoriiaj or Cayenne, while to : day it is a country of' great potentialities :in, the,- production of- butter '-'and .wheat. vßut while'■:some- new: area's-'.are/:- 'beingadded.for the 'production' of 'wheat, others 'are :,being : ,exhausted,' or , at least: are unable: tb' produce, more than-.will be required.by the population within the.'confines of- the : State.' Take; the case of'the United States.: .The;,p'rhdicti6n. has been made that unless farming' in the United States IB conducted on a more economical scale and larger average crops raised to the acre in breadstuffs,- the grain exports will entirely; cease, because the/harvests will be:wanted ToT"local consumption. One - of -those ':whb make; this prediction is. Mr. James J. Hill, the builder and chairman .of . the .'■ Great Northern • Railway, which traverses a greater acreage of; the wheat country than any rail-'. road in America.: .Me. Hill, is one I of the "..world's authorities, on graingrowing in America,' and. has' made it a'life study, being'the owner of la large, number ,'of elevators'.and store-houses, in addition to, transporting the grain by means of-his railway system. The United States' Census Bureau has made a calculation that in 1950 the total population of the United States will be fully '200. million people. The/consumption of wheat merely is such that it averages 6$ bushels to every person in the United -States.' Upon this basis Mr. Hill states that the total domestic cohsuriiption of this grain in 1950 will be fully 400 million bushels more than are now required. According to his analysis of .the/'situation' the-demand in America has grown so rapidly that the consumption has increased 80 per. cent, faster than the increase in the production. In other words the Arrierican demand for the wheat has 1 nearly doubled the increase: in' the [harvest. Allowing for the custom-

ary_ _ Amoricah exaggeration the position is "serious enough. - There is no doubt whatever but that the number of wheat consumers is rapidly increasing, but it is also true that tho area of cultivable wheat land is also expanding., Furthermore, science is aiding .in selecting the best wheats to cultivate in the several localities. In illustration of this latter point it may be stated that a Jewish agronomist, Herr Amkam . Aaronson, a Palestinian and Zionist, has made a dis-. covery in regard to dry.farming as relating to wheat., This particular wheat will grow without the irrigation ordinarily necessary, and is especially applicable to';the soil of Palestine.- ..Herr. Aaronson . is .receiving the support of a group of ■wealthy Americans," including Mr. Jacob.'HY.Schief, and Mr. .Daniel Guggenheim. [ If';this.hew wheat is as good as it is said to be,, many new "dry" areas will be added ,to. the wheat lands; of the world. A time is coming_ !when New. Zealand will need to give more attention to wheat production.. Though the area of the wheat lands is_ expanding, the consuming population is also increasing, and vthero -are other changes taking place which will help to maintain values.- Prices may not always be at- the present "level," but that they will continue at a profitable'level seems certain. New Zealand can easily double and treble her I wheat acreage,. and. this would probably .have been accomplished long ago but for :_the fact that the' cost of' producing is somewhat high. The problem; before New Zealand is to reduce. this high cost lof production. "It is clear," writes'an eminent: French authority, "that the most favoured countryMs that which can ~ the'.-.greatest,' proportion of wheat, since this cereal is, more valuable,, and the bread manufactured from it of.the best quality."..:-,