People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 September 1893 — THE CROPS AND MARKETS. [ARTICLE]

THE CROPS AND MARKETS.

' The Outlook in Various States—. I Indieniions of an Average Vivid in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio—The Market Quotations. Indianapolis News. Still the long drought in the j West remains unbroken. Local i showers have afforded a small • measure of relief in isolated localities. Corn has been prematurely lipened, and the yield will ■ fall considerab’y below the esti- ! mated yield of a mouth ago. Corn has taken a sudden start I upward, occasioned by the news which has bdeu sent out from all centers of production the last few days. The fact that conditions are irregular is another factor in this question which must be taken into consideration when an attempt is made to estimate the yield. The outlook before the issue of the report is that the yield of Western States will not fall materially below last year's production. In lowa there will probablj’ be a good crop. Parts <?f Nebraska and Kansas are good, though there is not likely to be any increase in production in these last two states, and the probability is that there will be a decrease. For Indiana, Illinois and Ohio taken together, there will probably be an average crop. Therh is little new in the wheat crop situation- It is probable that the Northwestern yield is as large as was anticipated, and it is more than ever likely that the official estimate of the crop will not fall below ,400,000,000 bushels, unless the present bureau of statistics adopts some unusual method of enumeration.

The aggregate of home neces sities for the crop year of 1893-94 is estimated at 2,260,000,000 bushels. The rye crop is estimated at 1,443,000,000 bushels, as against 1,836,000,000 last year, 1,330,000,000 is the estimated requirement. Wheat in foreign countries has not changed materially from last reports and there does not seem to be any prospect of an immediate change in the crop conditions. The improvement in some countries is marked, when present conditions are compared with former estimates. Nearly all will have average, if not larger crops, than last year. Harvest work in Germany has been assisted by the fine Weather and dry season. The harvest is continuing rapidly and the estimates previously made are as nearly correct as it is possible to make them now. The price question remains about the same. There is much fluctuation, biit nothing permanent. Wheat goes up like a rocket one day, under the influence of some powerful interest, but goes down as rapidly the next day. The market is unsteady, feverish and unable to sustain advanced prices as yet. There is evidence, however, that it will become quiet after a while, and that prices will remain steady at an advance; Wheat receipts at . primary markets for the week have been 3,204,000 bushels against 2,480,000 bushels the previous week and 8,193,000 bushels last year. Corn receipts were 3,544,000 bushels against 2,813,000 bushels the previous week and 2,751,000 bushels last year. The next subject of importance in connection with the drought is the impossibility of plowing. Fall plowing is delayed two or three weeks already in some locslities, and unless the drought breaks soon it will be impossible to do the plowing and seeding this fall. That means a great reduction in wheat production next year probably, and if it is more general than now appears it may become serious. A long, slow rain, which will thoroughly wet the ground, is what is needed, and the sooner it comes the better it will be for the winter wheat country.