22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



crop pleutilude and of business prosperity, and the situation surely 

 puts a quietus on public unrest and disquietude incident to a 

 presidential election year. 



The estimated yields are as follows: 



Wheat . . - nilii.ooo.oon bu. 



Corn 2, Mill, 0011. (Mio bu. 



Oats l.L'iiu.ooii.iiiiO bu. 



Barlpv joo.ooo.ooo bu. 



Rve .' 88,bO0,00(J bu. 



CotI on 13,100.000 bales 



Hav 60,000.000 tons 



Potatoes 360,000,000 bu. 



The report states that while the climatic conditions have not been 



ideal for crop raising, on the whole they have been favorable, and 



the soil is making up for the partial returns of the past two years. 



In spite of the non-uniformity of conditions that really exists there 



is no section wherein all crops have failed. Production this year 



is over the average, and it is a bumper year when all products are 



taken into consideration. The harvest will yield fully twenty per 



cent in weight and bulk over last year. None of the breadstuffs 



will fall short of the need of the people — most of them will be 



in surplus. The feedstuffs for 



the animals promise large yields, 

 and consequent recession in the 

 price to the consumer. The 

 accuracy of the statistics pre- 

 sented are well vouched for, as 

 they are from the same and 

 almost numberless sources from 

 which were obtained the statis- 

 tics of a year ago, which proved 

 in the finals to be reasonably 

 accurate, and much more so than 

 the governmental figures deliv- 

 ered months later. The winter 

 wheat harvest will be approxi 

 mately .380,000,000 bushels; 

 spring wheat, 280,000,000 bush- 

 els, making a total of 060,000,000 

 busiiels w-bieh is 30,000,000 

 Ijushels larger than last year. 



Corn had a bad start this 

 year, but there is a fair increase 

 in acreage, and the yield will be 

 an average one. 



The yield of oats is growing 

 to record proportions, and easily 

 tops the banner crop of two 

 years ago. The oat crop of the country will bo tniucndous. 



The base of the food for the lower animals, hay, is now assured 

 a heavier yield than last year. It will not make a record crop on 

 account of the severe winter and backward spring, ,but the production 

 will be more than sufficient to enable the farmer to hold a reserve 

 for the coming year. 



Since summer has set in, a brighter outlook for grain has been 

 reflected in a descent in price. Wheat from $1.1.5 a bushel has 

 declined to around 90 cents; corn from 8.5 cents in the Middle West 

 and around $1 in tlie South and East has had a decline of 15 cents 

 a bushel. Oats have dropped from 55 cents to 40 cents, and hay from 

 $25 a ton for ordinary stuff has been cut in half. Hence there is 

 every prospect that the cost of feeding cattle, which has been pro- 

 hibitory despite the low price of the latter, can now be resumed on 

 a profitable basis at mucli less price for cattle on the hoof. 



The smaller grains are [iroducing on a like generous scale. The 

 barley crop promises to be a quarter larger than last year. The 

 rye crop indicates a yield above normal. Potatoes, ranging ne.xt 

 to wheat for human consumption, will yield twenty-five per cent moi'e 

 than a year ago. Garden vegetables and fruit are yielding plentifully. 

 The report augurs that the high cost of living will surely decline 

 with a larger production of table supplies. 



Cotton, the country's great agricultural export, will not reach the 

 proportions of last year, but the falling off in quantity will very 

 likely be made up in increased price. 



There is an Honor in business 

 that is the fine gold of it ; that reck- 

 ons with every man justly; that loves 

 light ; that regards kindness and fair- 

 ness more highly than goods or prices 

 or profits. It becomes a man more 

 than his furnishings or his house. It 

 speaks for him in the heart of every- 

 one. His friendships are serene and 

 secure. His strength is like a young 



tree by a river. 



— Anon. 



The production of flax will be larger than for the past two years. 

 The cultivation of tobacco has prevailed on a larger scale than last 

 year. Mississippi river floods were destructive of sugar cane planta- 

 tions this year, and the crop outcome in the submerged portions of 

 the cane belt will be small. 



Beet sugar cultivation has increased with the enlargement of irri- 

 gation projects in the West, and the outlook is for a large crop. 

 Prices of both types of sugar are not likely to be very high, as the 

 beet crop in Europe will be larger this year, and Cuba has had an 

 unusually large sugar cane campaign. 



President Eeynolds' deductions are that "a volume of agricultural 

 products thirty per cent larger than last year will return to the 

 farming community the most profitable results of a decade. The 

 industries of the country have been feeling' the stimulus of the 

 prosperity of the tiller of the soil, and the ample supply of the 

 needs of the people. The only prosperity is that which comes from 

 agricultural production, and that is assured." 



Concerning general business conditions, the report alleges that 



considerable progress has been 

 made in the business world 

 toward a complete recovery from 

 the depression resulting from the 

 slowing down process made neces- 

 sary in 1910 by too large expan- 

 sion in industrial and commer- 

 cial activities; too much specula- 

 tion in land, and the tying up of 

 too much liquid capital in pro- 

 jects in process of development 

 and not sufficiently seasoned to 

 make their securities readily con- 

 vertible. In some' instances this 

 |irogress has not only reached 

 normal, but has extended con- 

 siderably beyond that. In others 

 the condition of trade and busi- 

 ness shows a full recovery. A 

 few are still below normal owing 

 (n peculiar conditions in these 

 narticular lines. 



Money continues plentiful. 

 Foreign trade balances are ex- 

 cellent. Foreign credit is good, 

 .fust at present railroad earnings 

 are showing an improvement, but 

 the situation in the transportation world continues to show a smaller 

 increase in gross than would justify the heavy operating costs, even 

 after the recent period of rigid retrenchment. 



There is a remarkable revival in the steel industry, which forms 

 a great stimulus to general business. This result is based on a 

 tremendous tonnage, high efficiency and low prices for finished 

 products. The steel trade is usually regarded as the barometer of 

 the business world, and to a considerable extent it can be so classified, 

 because it enters into so many lines of business enterprise. 



Labor is generally well employed, and there is a notable scarcity 

 at nearly all of the leading centers. This fact is reassuring because 

 it clearly indicates a greater industrial activity than has existed for 

 some time. 



The crop production as submitted indicates an increase in the 

 value of total crop production, allowing for the decline in tlie market 

 value for cotton and grain, of approximately $(517,000,000. Of this 

 amount $365,200,000 or more than half comes fr(nn ten crop,s of com- 

 modities which figure in the cereal and produce market. It is there- 

 fore of considerable moment to note that present crop conditions 

 justify an estimate of $9,033,966,000 in new wealth to be produced 

 from the soil this year against a production of $8,417,000,000 in 1911. 

 One striking feature emphasized in this business report is the 

 advices received from representative business men in all lines of 

 trade of the improvement of collections. Collections generally are 

 pronounced good. 



