Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 April 1911 — PREDICT BIG CROPS [ARTICLE]

PREDICT BIG CROPS

»- ■■ ... '-ISTaEt;, ... . ml Year. /j-,-. 1 m Soil Condition* Are Excellent and! While Individual Crops May Bo -/ Bmalier Than Last Year, They Are Diversified. .v. ■■■ .4#St Louis.—Reports on agricultural indications from all the great producing states of the middle west, the north, the northwest, the west, the southwest, the south and the southeast are exceptionally propitious. Weather conditions have put the soil into the best of shape and everything is favorable for large and good crops. Interpretation of the reports, obtained from authentic and reliable! sources, leads to the conclusion that,* while the crops may not he as large,, individually, as last year, the produc-i tion will be more diversified and the total output will be enormous. Should this understanding of the reports materialise, the tendency would be toward comparatively high' prices. At the same time the volume; of the general agricultural production; should afford employment to a vast army of laborers and cause such aj distribution of the revenue as to vitalise trade. Taking the producing territories In their entirety, the soil conditions are better than ordinary and the crop prospects are excellent. There is one locality in the southwest and one in the northwest which declare weather and soil conditions to be discouraging and Montana fears that a too rapid! thawing of the mountain snows might result in another dry season. Others wise the reports are more than gratifying. All the crops, without exception, are! said to be at least as good as a year; ago, with better soil conditions. Ini fact, it would not be surprising if the« grain production should exceed the; forecast, in which case prices wouldi not be so high. But the communications appear to show at present that while individual crops will not be extraordinary, the total production will be enormous. In any event, the farmers look forward to a very prosperous year, and this, of course, means heavy wholesale and retail trade. The fruit crop has not been dam-' aged much. Most of the report* Indicate rather a large and qualitative* fruit crop. The same inference holds* regarding early vegetables. Probably the most significant feature of the communications Is the ex-* pansion of farming In southeastern and southern Btates. Diversification steadily to becoming a more vital factor in American production. The collective reports seem to indicate largo and diversified crops, with work fori many laborers and the probability ad comparatively high prices. They assure a prosperous year to the fanner, the merchant and tho workman, provided the turns of thei seasons are favorable to the crops modi normal weather promises favorable conditions.