Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1894 — WHEAT AND OATS. [ARTICLE]

WHEAT AND OATS.

Report on Crop Conditions in Twelve Agricultural States. Reports have been received from its special correspondents by the Farmers’ Review in twelve States, on the condition of winter wheat, spring wheat, and oats. WINTER WHEAT. In Illinois it is now evident tbat a crest deal of damage was done by the hard freezes of the latter part of March, but this loss to the crop ie fast becoming neutralized by the good growing weather of the present month. In Indiana the permanent damage was not great, except In a few counties, and the general reports are favorable for the State, In Ohio the condition is not so Sood as before the freeze, but yet no great amsge has been sustained. The condition is generally from fair to good. In Michigan little reference is made to the cold weather in March as injuring wheat. In some counties it has suffered from dry winds, while in others it needs rain. The crop seems to be doing poorest on clay lands. It is better in most f laces than it appeared to be three weeks ago. t has not yet stooled out as much as could be desired. From Kentucky comes the positive reports that the freeze did little harm. In places where the plant had apparently been killed by cold, the warm weather has brought it out of its precarious condition and a fair crop is looked for. The forward rank wheat sustained the most damage. The general condition in the State is good. In some counties in Missouri the late freeze and dry weather have considerably reduced the condition of the crop, but recent conditions are more favorable, and are bringing up the average. In some counties the stand 1b rather thin. The general condition for the State is fair. In Kansas the damage done by the freeze was not great, but what damage was done has not been recovered by later conditions, and the average as a whole is low. In Nebraska the condition is no more than fair, and in some localities the crop is in bad shape as a result of drought. In lowa the crop is in certain counties badly damaged. and seems to be deteriorating. In Wisconsin not much change is reported over last month. The general condition of the crop is good. OATS. In Illinois the early sown oats suffered severely by the March freeze, and the land had to be quite generally resown. The oats that were late sown generally escaped injury. On account of the reseeding it is by no means certain that the disaster will out down the size of the final crop. In Indiana oats were widely injured, in some places the estimate being that one-half were killed by freezing. As in Illinois, reseeding has been quite general, but some of the fields will be put into other crops. In Ohio the crop is only fair, the fields that froze out having been mostly reseeded, but some of them not yet started to grow. Some counties report them very backward. In most places in Michigan seeding of oats has not yet been completed, and at the time of the March freeze not enough fields were up to make the possibility of loss great. In Kentucky the loss to oats was very- great. Numerous reports are received of the entire killing of the oats over wide areas, and there are no accompanying reports of reseeding. Many of the fields will doubtless be given up to other crops. In Missouri the loss has been great and the general outlook is bad. Some, but not all, of the lost area is being reseeded to oats. The loss was great in Kansas, and a recovery does not seem probable. In Nebraska the outlook is fair, as the oats were not developed enough at the time of the blizzard to destroy them. In lowa the general condition for oats Is good, though some localities, where the crop was early, suffered severely. In Wisconsin prospects are good. SPRING WHEAT. Spring wheat is not raised in most of the States covered by the report. In States where it is raised, seeding is not yet completed.