Show TilE HORN BORN OF PLENTY At ht this season of the year throughout the Northern hemisphere thought hought interest and effort are centered upon business busine s. s In thi this hemisphere this is th the season of natures nature's grent greatest t energy and productiveness productiveness pro pro- and all efforts are concentrated to improve im un- un prove the swiftly passing opportunity At present the agricultural prospect in the United States Is ex cx- Our chief money crops are cotton and corn including nourished corn and fattened corn meat and provisions It is early yet Jet to speak assuredly of either cither crop But in both present prospects are good Our cotton crop last year bales was one o of the largest hugest we ever raised In sooth it ii never had been exceeded except in 1898 and 1899 when it was waa an and 11 bales Our cotton export in the year ear ended June 30 1901 was of which was manufactured cloth and the rest cotton in bale baJe Up to 1879 the United States never ba had bad raised in any anyone one year so mu much as bales of cotton and up to 1898 1598 never had raised a bale crop Our grea great cotton State is Texas She pr last year more than an any r other three States combined She is credited cred credo with bal bales which is more than thun one one- third of our entire crop in that year ear The only other othe States that reach the million bale mark are Georgia Mississippi and Alabama Mississippi usually leading leading leading lead lead- ing Georgia but lust year ear Georgia led the other two States with bales The corn prospect is reported reported re- re ported to be promising Some crop authorities place the present expectation at ut 2500 bushels If this tills expectation shall be realized the he corn crop will be the largest ever raised Our bumper crop of corn wa was raised in 1896 and attained a total of bushels The only other years in n which we reached the two billion mark were were 1895 1899 and 1900 Our corn crop last year was a defective one There Is some complaint of too top much rain in inthe the Missouri valley and of a lack of oC moisture in a large area in Texas Nevertheless the corn prospect on the whole is reported to be phe- phe bright The winter wheat harvest which is s about ended has haR turned out better than expected Ohio and s some me of ot the other trans trans Mississippi Mississippi wheat States have harvested a crop of wheat which in the yield per acre recalls the days of our pioneer grandfathers grand grand- fathers athers and their tales of thirty five bushels to the acre The rains came just as the wheat was heading head head- ing ng and they along with a cool summer caused the wheat to head wonderfully Spring wheat oats and hay are arc reported good to date The fruit crop is bountiful Thus far we have hate escaped cattle ic c and will produce more than our usual annual dairy product of more than in value alne Our Om clip of wool is estimated to exceed pounds which will have an enhanced price rice because of the shortage of Australian wool due lue to five successive e years of drought the last being being beng be- be ing ng the worst Turning from the crops to the manufacturing manufacturing man man- industries of the country we find everybody everybody every- every body ody busy furnaces foundries and factories being oversold for many months ahead Permanent improvements im im- are going forward at a n rapid rate ate and andare andare andare are making large demands for iron and steel pro products prod prod- Rails for new nw electric lines both city and in in- urban er structural steel for new buildings wrought iron pipe for new gas and arid oil lines some of them hem hundreds of miles long are being delivered as fast ast as possible but cannot keep up with the de mand The demand for new rolling stock for railways railways rail rail- ways both steam and electric is unprecedented The only unfavorable features in the business outlook of t he the United States are the strike e of the anthracite mi mi- ners in Pennsylvania enforcing idleness upon nearly men and the lessened buying capacity of Great Britain our largest customer |