130 



FIELD CROPS 



169. Durum Wheat. Durum wheat is grown to some 

 extent in the spring wheat belt. It is used for flour-making, 

 but its special use is for the production of macaroni. In the 

 best spring wheat sections, durum wheat does not yield as 

 well or produce grain of as good quality as it does in the 

 somewhat drier sections. It seems best adapted to the 

 semiarid region, where there is not suflicient moisture to 

 produce satisfactory crops of common spring wheat. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE CROP 



170. World Production. The countries leading in the 

 production of wheat in 1914, the last year for wliich accurate 

 statistics are available, with the acreage and production of 

 each according to the Bureau of Crop Estimates of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, are shown in 

 Table VI. 



Table VI. Leading countries in the production of wheat, with the 

 acreage and production of each in 1914. 



Country 



United States 



European Russia 



France 



British India 



Austria-Hungary 



Italy 



Canada 



Argentina 



Australia 



Acreage 



53,541,000 

 62,316,000 

 16,049,000 

 27,697,000 

 12,664,000 

 11,783,000 

 10,293,000 

 16,242,000 

 9,453,000 



Bushels 



891,017,000 

 597,000,000 

 319,677,000 

 314,608,000 

 190,655,000 

 169,442,000 

 161,280,000 

 113,904,000 

 112.159,000 



The figures above given are the latest which are now 

 available, as crop production has been greatly disturbed 

 since 1914 by the world war. The total world production of 

 wheat is normally about 4,000,000,000 bushels, or about the 

 same as that of oats and com. Owing to the higher weight 

 per bushel, more pounds of wheat are produced than of either 

 corn or oats, while the total cash value of the crop is greater 

 than that of corn and oats combined. 



