bushels greater than on December 15, 1927. In Canada, by the end of the calen- 

 dar year, the visible supply had likewise reached a point where it was about 60 

 million bushels larger than a year ago. 



From July to December in 1928 wheat prices steadily declined with market- 

 ings of the United States production exceeding those of 1927 during this period 

 and crowding a market that was distinctly a buyers' market. 



In the United States the area sown for winter wheat in the fall of 1928 was 

 8.6 per cent smaller than that sown the fall of 1927. A decrease of about 8 per 

 cent was likewise reported by Canada. A somewhat better condition of winter 

 grain compared with a year ago was reported by Russia, Germany and Austria, 

 but acreage information on European winter seedings was not available at this 

 writing. 



UNITED STATES WHEAT PRODUCTION BY CLASSES IN 1928 



A slight reduction in production of hard red spring wheat in 1928 compared 

 with 1927; fairly strong increases in production of durum wheat and hard red 

 winter; a strong reduction in soft red winter wheat and a moderate reduction 

 in white wheat are shown in the table which follows: 



ESTIMATED PRODUCTION BY CLASSES IN THE UNITED STATES* 



Year 

 Beginning Hard Red Durum Hard Red Soft Red White Total 



July Spring Winter Winter 



(1000 bu.) (1000 bu.) (1000 bu.) (1000 bu.) (1000 bu.) (1000 bu.) 



1923 : 126,876 55,269 241,851 271,631 101,767 797,394 



1924 192,341 66,105 £64,662 189,441 51,879 864,428 



1925 156,052 65,008 205.799 169,792 79,777 676,429 



1926 120,834 47,478 360,440 228,886 73,402 831,040 



1927 b 201,927 83,162 317,042 180,887 95,356 878,374 



1928 c 195,106 97,833 384,176 139,788 85,846 902,749 



• Spring and winteir wheats listed do not include the spring and winter in the white wheats. 



Production estimates are based on the estimate of percentage classification by states as reported 

 for 1920, 1923 and 1924; the percentages for 1921 and 1922 were interpolated from the 1920 and 

 1923 percentages. The estimated production for recent years is subject to revision. 

 b Revised, c Preliminary. 



PROTEIN PREMIUMS 



Protein premiums for both spring and winter wheats through the period 

 July to December 1928 declined to levels below 1927 as the season advanced. 

 Premiums for 14% protein at Minneapolis averaged about 21 cents for November 

 compared with 18 cents in October and 32 cents in November, 1927. 



Flax production in Montana in 1928 was 1,666,000 bushels compared with 

 1,734,000 bushels in 1927. Acreage harvested however, in 1928 placed at 196,000, 

 was about 15 per cent larger than the revised acreage for 1927. Yield per acre 

 on the other hand averaged 8.5 bushels in 1928 against an average of 10.2 bushels 

 in 1927. The farm price was higher in 1928 being $1.92 per bushel compared 

 with the average of $1.75 received in 1927. The value per acre for the crop in 

 1928 was $16.32 or not much below the 1927 value of $17.85. The average value 

 per acre of the crop in 1928 exceeded slightly that of wheat which was $15.18. 



Montana is fourth among flax producing states in 1928, production being 

 outranked by Minnesota and the two Dakotas. Most of the crop usually is grown 

 in northeastern and eastern Montana, where August frost damage in 1928 reduced 

 the prospect at that time for an average yield about as good as in 1927. A larger 

 acreage sown to flax would probably have resulted in 1928 except for drouth the 

 first half of the seeding season. 



DOCKAGE IN FLAX 



Dockage in flax from the 1928 crop was determined by the office of Grain 

 Investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Montana, with an average 

 of 7.4 per cent, is well below the other important flax states. North Dakota 

 shows an average dockage of 15.8 per cent; South Dakota 16.9 percent and 

 Minnesota 16.4 per cent. 



28 



