CHAPTER XV 

 WHEAT 



WHEAT is the most valuable of the important food plants of the 

 world, though in actual tons of production it is exceeded by both 

 potatoes and corn (see p. 3). Europe alone produces about one- 

 half of the world's wheat, and North America about one-fourth. 



The Production of Wheat. The wheat crop of the world for 

 the 5-year period, 1906-1910, is shown by the following table, as 

 reported in the 1910 Yearbook, U. S. Department of Agriculture: 



Continent Bushels 



Europe 1,800,705,600 



North America 833,815,000 



Asia 448,136,600 



South America 178,293,800 



Australasia 75,941,000 



Africa 67,101,600 



Total world crop 3,403,993,600 



The principal wheat-producing countries (Fig. 39), together 

 with the average yield per acre for two decades, are shown in the next 

 table. 



Yields Per Acre in the Leading Wheat-growing Countries 



Average yield per Average yield per acre 



annum, 1906-1910, 1890-1899, 1900-1909, 

 Country bushels bushels bushels 



United States 693,316,000 13.2 14.1 



Russia 557,757,000 8.9 9.7 



France 328,848,000 18.6 20.5 



India 301,452,000 . . . 12.0 



Austria- Hungary 225,148,000 16.6 2 17.7 



Italy 169,907,000 



Argentina 154,117,000 



Germany 138,184,000 24.5 28.9 



Canada 129,926,000 . . . 18.2 3 



The United States and Russia are the leading wheat-producing 

 countries. They also lead in oat production (Chapter XX). Ger- 

 many is also a great oat-producing country, but much lower in total 



1 Estimated, no accurate data. 



2 Austria only. 

 1906-1910 only. 



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