Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1884 — WHEAT. [ARTICLE]

WHEAT.

A Reduction in Acreage in Europe and This Country Next Year ProbaWe. The monthly report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, says a Washington telegram, contains some interesting facts concerning the crops and grain markets of Europe. It seems that stagnation and depression in prices are agitating the fanners of Europe as well as of this country. There is little if any profit to the farmers, and it is believed shat the inevitable result will be a reduction in the acreage of wheat next season. The crops have been unusually large, and the abundance there, as well as elsewhere, has furnished a supply almost unprecedented, and vastly in excess of the demand. The disheartening price which all grain is now bringing is even a severer blow to the farmers than the bad crops of previous years, and coming when their resources are pressed to the utmost, the future is looked forward to with dismay. The papers are teeming with farm statistics shewing the cost of raising grain per acre and the resulting mcney returns in tho markets. Average English wheat brings $1.03 per bushel, which is less than it can be raised for in that country. A year ago, when the average was 20 per cent, higher, it was said there was more money to be made with average crops at that price, and now as the reductions in rent have not kept pace with the falling markets the amount of loss per acre is the only question. A writer from Great Britain estimates the wheat yield of that country for the present year at over 74,000,000 bushels. He estimates the requirements of the 36,000,000 of people to be fed at over 300,0(10,000 bushels, of which 74,000,000 bushels are supplied at home, leaving 126,000,0t)0 to be imported from foreign countries. About this amount was imported last year. The writer continues: “The stock of foreign wheat in the warehouses on Sept 1, 1883, was known to be enormous, and this stock has probably been reduced. The total price of wheat during the past year has also caused a larger proportion of homegrown wheat to be consumed by stock, and the still lower prices which are likely to prevail during the coming year will tend to increase the consumption. The imports of foreign wheat during each year do not, therefore, at the present time supply so reliable a measure of the annual requirements as was the case formerly, when the stock of foreign wheat' had not assumed such gigantic proportions. ” This condition of the grain market in Europe, which draws so heavily from our supply, it is believed, wi#result in a large reduction in the acreage in this country next year. With an increased foreign demand and a smaller supply, the price of cereals would be raised, a movement of the crops would become more active, and a better condition of things generally is predicted for next year.