CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



trolling the situation to a greater extent than 

 any other body of men. This, too, without any 

 restrictive legislation. 



Before wheat was made plentiful by the 

 Reaper, it was possible for a daring man to 

 establish a corner or monopoly; but no one has 

 succeeded in doing this for more than forty years. 

 The last wheat corner that did not fail was in 

 1867. Since then every would-be cornerer has 

 been caught in his own trap. The wheat- 

 machinery of the world has now become so vast 

 that no individual can master it. Whoever has 

 tried it has found that he was being cornered 

 by the wheat; for as soon as he had raised the 

 price to an artificial level, the grain has flowed 

 in upon him and covered him up. The price 

 of wheat to-day may be temporarily deflected 

 by schemes and conspiracies, but not for long. 

 Ultimately it is decided by the state of the crop 

 and the state of public opinion in the thirty-six 

 countries that grow wheat and eat bread. 



Within the last thirty years, since the Reaper 

 has come into universal use, the area of the 

 world's wheat-field has doubled. New coun- 



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