DISTRIBUTION OF WHEAT IN THE UNITED STATES 
43 
Figure 31. In general these wheats are grown in humid areas, east 
of the sections in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in which the hard 
red winter wheats are grown and south of the sections in Missouri 
and Illinois in which hard red winter wheats and, to some extent, hard 
red spring wheats, are grown. In nearly all of this area the average 
annual rainfall is at least 30 inches. Soft red winter wheats are better 
adapted to humid conditions than are the hard red winter wheats, 
and under conditions of high rainfall or heavy snow cover in winter 
they give better yields. In certain sections between the areas pro- 
ducing only hard red winter and only soft red winter wheats both 
classes of wheat are grown, and there is considerable fluctuation from 
year to year in relative acreages of these classes, depending largely on 
relative yields and prices obtained. 
The soft red winter wheat acreage decreased from 21,943,133 acres 
in 1919 to 11,216,850 acres in 1924, a decrease of 8 per cent in the per- 
Fig. 31.— Distribution of soft red winter wheat in 1924. Each dot represents 2,000 acres. Estimated 
area, 11,216,850 acres 
centage of the total wheat acreage occupied by this class. _ This is the 
largest decrease occurring in any of the classes of wheat. This reduction 
in soft red winter wheat acreage is due in part to the greater percentage 
of abandonment that occurred in the area growing this class of wheat 
than in areas growing other classes in the crop of 1924. It is largely 
due, however, to the fact that competition between wheat and other 
crops is more keenly shown in the soft red winter wheat area than it 
is in other areas. Owing to the usually sufficient rainfall in this area, 
many other crops can be grown. Which ones are actually grown 
depends principally on relative profits. With the change in conditions 
and general decrease in wheat acreage that occurred following the 
war period it is not surprising that the decrease was greatest in the 
soft red winter wheat area. Another factor that has been operative 
is that there is no new land that can be brought into cultivation in the 
soft red winter wheat area, such as has been the case in the hard red 
winter wheat area on the Great Plains. 
