168 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



With such information carefully and scientifically gathered and 

 compiled, and honestly disseminated, so that it can be depended 

 upon to be as reliable as any forecast or estimate can possibly be, and 

 relied upon as emanating from an impartial and disinterested source, 

 the merchants and manufacturers of the country can certainly act 

 with a degree of prudence and intelligence not possible were the in- 

 formation lacking. 



If reports show, during the growing season, that the condition 

 of wheat is such as to indicate a full crop on a large area the mer- 

 chants of the wheat-producing sections of the country know that 

 they can give liberal orders for goods to be handled by them sev- 

 eral weeks or months later ; the manufacturers, located far from the 

 wheat fields, know where there will be a large demand for such of 

 their products as are used by all dependent upon the wheat industry ; 

 the railroad companies know they will have heavy freights to trans- 

 port; and so the advance knowledge regarding the probable future 

 outcome of the crop serves as a guide to every branch of commerce 

 and trade connected with the wheat-growing areas of the country. 

 The same is true as to the other crops corn, cotton, oats, rye, to- 

 bacco, etc. 



If, on the other hand, the condition of growing crops is unfa- 

 vorable, reliable information to that effect is equally, in fact more, 

 important to trade and commerce than when the promise is good. 

 For, when conditions are unfavorable, the merchants, manufacturers, 

 and transporters must move with a degree of caution not necessary 

 when the prospects are highly encouraging. 



It was to remedy the evils and to subserve and protect the in- 

 terests of all, as above noted, that Congress provided for issuing 

 monthly crop reports, and the crop-reporting service of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture aims to supply the public at large with impar- 

 tial, unbiased information regarding crop areas, conditions, and 

 yields which, it must be apparent, is highly essential and beneficial 

 not only to farmers, but also, equally, to our commercial interests 

 of every kind and class. (B. Stats. C. 17.) 



No other class of producers for export has as great an interest 

 in the problems and facilities of transportation from the farm to the 

 primary market and from that to the seacoast as the farmers have. 

 On the basis of value, three-fifths of the exports of this country con- 

 sist of the raw products of the farms and products in whole or in 

 part manufactured therefrom ; and about 56 per cent of the factory 

 value of all manufactured products which contain more or less agri- 

 cultural materials represents the proportional value of these materials. 



Production and Export of Wheat. Domestic wheat exported 

 from the Atlantic and Gulf ports comes chiefly, if not entirely, from 

 the States east of the Rocky Mountains. The States producing the 

 most wheat in 1909 were North Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, South 

 Dakota, and Nebraska. The next States in order of production were 

 Washington, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. North Dakota and Kan- 

 sas combined had 14,161,757 acres in wheat, or nearly one-third of 

 the total land planted to that crop. (Bu. Stats. Crop Keporter, Vol, 



