1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
677 
M9NG the * 
ARKETMEN. 
WIIAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
How Apple Buyers Talk. —Most of the apple 
jobbers claim that there is, at least a fair crop of 
apples, and some of them, that there is a good crop in 
the country at large; still, I attach more importance, 
so far as judging of their opinion of prospects is con¬ 
cerned, to the fact that nearly all jobbers are anxious 
to buy. This one fact would seem to indicate that 
they consider the outlook for apples very promising. 
t X X 
Assorted Grapes. —We frequently see baskets of 
grapes packed together, black and white, or red and 
white, two varieties in a basket. This is poor prac¬ 
tice for general market, because few people care to 
buy such mixtures. I have just seen some that are 
still worse, in this respect. A lot of five-pound 
baskets were made up of red, black and white grapes, 
in each basket. These were selling very slowly. 
Some people might care to buy these, but ordinarily, 
the number is small. 
X t X 
Raspberries for Ragland. —It is reported that 
the exporting of raspberries from Canada to England 
is soon to begin as an experiment. The wild raspber¬ 
ries, of which the country produces great quantities 
annually, are to be used in the experiment. They are 
to be packed in 10-pound tins, and the first shipment 
will consist of five car-loads. If this business can be 
made a success from Canada, there seems to be no 
reason why it should not be from this country. This 
may settle the question for some of our raspberry 
growers who have found the crop an unprofitable one 
during the past few years. 
XXX 
Coverless Grape Baskets. — I saw a lot of fancy 
Niagara grapes in five-pound baskets, without any 
covers. The baskets were lined with neat white paper, 
and the grapes, which were large clusters, were piled 
up more than level full. These came from nearby 
growers who brought them in themselves. It would 
be impracticable to pack grapes thus for shipping any 
distance, unless the baskets were packed in carriers. 
These sold for 20 cents p r basket, while Niagaras in 
covered baskets such as were received from western 
New York, were selling for 10. The seller tried to 
impress the fact that they contained nearly twice as 
many grapes, because of being rounded up. This was 
an exaggeration, although they, probably, did contain 
more, and the clusters were larger and better suited 
to a fancy trade. 
X X X 
Chestnut Roasters. —A few chestnut roasters 
have made their appearance on the streets, and the 
first few bushels of chestnuts have arrived. During 
the past few days, they have been bringing $10 per 
bushel of 60 pounds, but this price will not last if 
receipts be increased to any extent. No product in 
our market sells for more extreme prices for first 
arrivals, or declines more rapidly when receipts in¬ 
crease, than chestnuts. Apparently, too, no other 
product is so subject to attacks by the fake commis¬ 
sion merchants. Numbers of these are always send¬ 
ing out circulars and letters, early in the season, 
telling what extreme prices are received for the first 
receipts, and what extreme prices they can get for all 
that they receive. Sometimes, first arrivals sell for 
$15 or more per bushel, but very few bring this price. 
Beware of the man who claims to be able to get such 
extravagant prices ! 
X t x 
Apples for Export. —There seems a good lookout 
for apples for this purpose this year. To secure best 
results and highest prices, very careful assorting and 
packing ax*e necessary. Here are some directions 
which were given me by Mr. Chas. Forster, an exten¬ 
sive exporter : “ Use only full-size, standard apple 
barrels. Do not pack apples that have been shaken 
or have dropped off, or those that have been piled on 
the ground for the sun, dews, rains or extreme changes 
in temperature, to ripen unduly. Select afkl carefully 
grade the fruit, putting in nothing bx-uised or defec¬ 
tive. When packing, face the barrel, stems down, 
with a fair sample of the fruit which it is to contain. 
Upon this facing or layer, place by hand, about a 
lxalf bushel of apples in the shape of a cone or pyra¬ 
mid ; then commence filling. After each basketful, 
jar the barrel, to make the fruit settle well together. 
When the barrel is about half full, put in the racking 
head (a padded piece of wood, a little less in diameter 
than the bari'el head) and thoroughly rack the barrel. 
Continue filling as befoi*e, till the barrel is full; 
then tail up, that is, turn each apple, stem up, and 
then again put on the racking head, holding in posi¬ 
tion with the hands, and thoroughly rack the barrel 
again. After the racking has been done, the fruit 
shoxild be just aboxxt level with the top of the chine, 
and with a little straightening up, the pressed ends 
should look almost the same as the faced. Tlioroxxgh 
racking obviates the need of heavy pressing, and pre¬ 
vents the barrels from becoming slack, through the 
decay of the crushed frxiit.” Lots of trouble, isn’t it, 
to pack barrels in this manner ? Bixt this trouble is 
just what makes the difference between good prices 
and low prices. One other point in connection with 
this is that the name of the variety should be sten¬ 
ciled on the head of the bari*el, which is the bot¬ 
tom while being filled, and the name of the packer. 
The hoops should also be well nailed on. f. h. v. 
THE WORLD S SUPPLY OF WHEAT. 
THERE IS A BREAD FAMINE AHEAD OF US. 
Chemistry Must Come to the Rescue. 
Part I. 
Great Britain’s Bread. —In a recent address be¬ 
fore the British Scientific Association, Sir William 
Crooke discussed the world’s supply of wheat. The 
keynote of his address is, probably, contained in the 
following paragraph : 
If bread fail—not only we, but all the bread eaters of the world— • 
what are we to do? We are boru wheat eaters. Other races, 
vastly superior to us iu numbers, but differing widely In material 
and intellectual progress, are eaters of Indlaa corn, rice, millet 
and other grains, but none of these grains has the food value, the 
concentrated health-sustaining power of wheat, and it is on this 
account that the accumulated experience of civilized mankind 
has set wheat apart as the lit and proper food for the develop¬ 
ment of muscle and brains. 
We wish to give our readers a brief synopsis of this 
address, which is, probably, the most thoughtful state¬ 
ment of the case, that lias ever been made. Consider 
first England, the great wheat-buying country of the 
world. The speaker said that the annual consump¬ 
tion per head is over six bushels ; thus, 240,000,000 
bushels of wheat are required every year. Only 25 
per cent of this is grown at home, 75 per cent being 
imported. There are never more than 64,000,000 
bushels of wheat and flour, or 14 weeks’ supply, on 
hand. At one time last April, thex-e were but 10,000,000 
bushels in store, which was the smallest stock ever 
reported. 
The average yield in Great Britain for the last 10 
years is, in round numbers, 29 % bushels per acre. To 
grow all the wheat required by Englishmen, an area 
of 13,000 square miles would be needed. This repre¬ 
sents about one-fourth of the entire size of England, 
and an increase at the rate of 100 square miles per 
annum, would be necessary to supply Great Britain 
with wheat bread. While it might be possible to 
secure land of climate and quality sufficient for this, 
he did not think it possible to keep this amount of 
land under way, from year to year, with the present 
supplies of nitrogenous fertilizer. The question 
forcibly stated, is this : 
We eagerly spend millions to protect our coasts and commerce, 
and millions more on ships, explosives, guns and men,-but we 
omit to take necessary precautions to supply ourselves with the 
very first and supremely important munition of war—food. 
Bread Eaters Increasing’. —The speaker then 
went on to say that, of late years, the individual con¬ 
sumption of wheat has increased. Only in the two 
countries of Russia and Italy, and possibly Turkey, 
has this consumption declined. In 1871, there were 
371,000,000 bread eaters in the world; in 1881, there 
were 416,000,000; in 1891, 472,600,000, and at pres¬ 
ent, 516,500,000. At the present time, the number of 
persons demanding wheat bread increases at the rate 
of over 6,000,000 per annum. To supply these bread 
eaters, will require a total of 2,324,000,000 bushels for 
seed and food. At the present time, the world’s 
bx-ead eatei’s have about eaten up the reserves of 
wheat, until they ax-e about exhausted, so that the 
qxiestion of bread, even for the next few years, has 
become a serious one. 
He then considered the wheat-producing countries 
of the world. The chief exporting countries are the 
United States and Russia. Our country has been 
sending abroad no less than 145,000,000 bushels yearly. 
The speaker gave the following opinion regarding our 
future exports: 
Practically there remains no uncultivated prairie land in the 
United States suitable for wheat growing. The virgin land has 
been rapidly absorbed, until at present, there is no land left for 
wheat without reducing the area for maize, hay and other neces¬ 
sary crops. It is almost certain that, within a generation, the 
ever-increasing population of the United States will consume all 
the wheat grown within its borders, and will be driven to import 
and, like ourselves, will scramble fo a lion’s share of the wheat 
crop of the world. The withdrawal of 145,000,000 bushels will 
cause a serious gap in the food supply of wheat-importing 
countries, and unless this deficit can be met by increased supplies 
from other countries, there will be a dearth for the rest of the 
world after the British Isles are sufficiently supplied.” 
Small Hope Ahead. —“Russia”, he said, “ex¬ 
ports annually 95,000,000 bushels of wheat. The yield 
in that country averages less than nine bushels per 
acre ; yet, while this vast supply of gi-ain is sent out 
of the country, Russian peasants are starving for the 
lack of the bread that is sold. Much has been said 
about the possibilities of Sibeida, as a wheat-produc¬ 
ing country.” 
Sir William quotes the Russian Minister of Ways 
and Communications, to the effect that, “Siberia 
never has produced, and never will produce wheat and 
rye enough to feed the Siberian population.” He 
says : “ The lands of western Siberia adapted to grain¬ 
growing, are equal neither in extent nor productive 
powers, to those of Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, 
alone.” 
As to Canada, the speaker said that the wheat-bear¬ 
ing area in that country has increased less than 500,000 
acres since 1884, while exports have not incx*eased in 
greater proportions. As the wheat area of Manitoba 
and the Northwest has increased, the wheat area of 
Ontario and eastern provinces has decreased, the added 
acres being little more than sufficient to meet the 
growing requirements of population. 
As for Australia, but a small portion of the country 
seems well adapted to the growing of wheat. Not 
more than 150,000 acres have ever been under culti¬ 
vation for this crop. Last year, for the second season 
in succession, the wheat crop was destroyed. There 
is little to be expected from New Zealand, because 
other industries, like dairying and fruit growing, are 
more profitable. 
In Europe, the exports from Austria-Hungary have 
practically ceased. France must import 14 per cent 
of her own production. Germany is importing more 
and more, and now averages 35,000,000 bushels per 
year. Possible supplies of wheat from South America 
have been greatly overrated. There is no prospect 
that Argentina will ever be able to devote more than 
30,000,000 acres to wheat, the present area being 
about 6,000.000 acres. It will take years to bring the 
surplus lands of this country into cultivation, and the 
population is not now sufficient to supply labor at 
seedtime and harvest. 
Northern Africa, in former years the granai-y of 
Rome, now exports less than 5,000,000 bushels an¬ 
nually. Cotton and wine are more profitable crops 
for Egypt or Algeria. In India, only one-eighth of 
the wheat harvest is available for export. The annual 
increase of population will demand, in addition, each 
year, to the food-bearing lands of that country, 
1,500,000 acres. 
The Chemist to the Rescue. —The question is 
thxis summed up, and the following prophecy made : 
Should all the wheat-growing countries add to their area to 
the utmost capacity, on the most careful calculation, the yield 
would give us only an addition of about 100,000,000 acres, 
supplying, at the average world yield of 12.7 bushels to the 
acre, 1,270,000,000 bushels, just enough to supply the increase 
of population among bread eaters till the year 1931. At the 
present time, there exists a deficit in the wheat area of 
31,000 square miles—a deficit masked by the fact that the 10 
world crops of wheat harvested in the 10 years ending 189ti 
were more than five per cent above the average of the previous 
26 years. When provision shall have been made, if possible, to 
feed 230,000,000 units likely to be added to the bread-eating popu¬ 
lations by 1931—by the complete occupancy of the arable areas 
of the temperate zone now partially occupied—where can be 
grown the additional 330,000,000 bushels of wheat required 10 
years later by a huugry world ? 
Now the question comes up, What is to be done in 
case these figures are correct? Sir William Crooke is 
a chemist, and he believes that the laboratory must 
come to the aid of the farmer. The dominant fertilizer 
for wheat is nitrogen in the form of ammonia or nitric 
acid. Each crop has what is called its dominant 
manure, that is, the element of plant food that has 
most to do with determining the extent and quality 
of its yield. In wheat growing, this dominant manure 
is nitrogen, and Sir William Crooke goes on to show 
how the world’s supply of nitrogen now contained in 
the earth, is inadequate to produce the immense crops 
of wheat needed in the future. Whei*e are we to go 
to obtain new supplies of nitrogen ? Next week, we 
shall try to give a synopsis of his views on this im¬ 
portant question. He thinks we are on the eve of a 
great development in the artificial production of ni¬ 
trates from the air. Let us see what he has to say in 
regard to this matter. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
The value of roots for feeding stock is unquestioned; the great 
difficulty is in getting them cut properly and expeditiously. The 
Banner root cutters, made by O. E. Thompson & Sons, Ypsilauti, 
Mich., have been highly commended by a large number who have 
used them. They are made in different sizes for hand or power. 
Ask them for a catalogue describing them. 
The recent discussion about drainage in The R. N.-Y. suggests 
a little book on the subject, entitled, Benefits of Drainage, and 
How to Drain, which is published by John II. Jackson, Albany, 
N. Y. It will be sent free to any one in the New England, Middle 
Atlantic or adjoining States. Mr. Jackson is an authority on the 
subject, his agricultural drain tiles having been successful to a 
remarkable degree. He is, probably, the largest manufacturer 
of tile drainage of any place in the East, if not in the whole 
country. 
We have been asked about the advertised stock of Klondike 
gold mines and similar undeveloped corporations. We have never 
investigated any of them, but would not advertise them on gen¬ 
eral principles. Our experience is that the stockholders of such 
companies outside of a chosen few of the promoters are pretty- 
sure to have an expensive lesson. If they fall, as they are pretty- 
sure to do, your money is lost, probably gone to pay promoters’ 
salary. If the scheme should be a success, the promoters would 
freeze you out. 
