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Show WHEAT PROSPECTS DO MURAGE Despite Largest Acreage in History, Condition Is Re- ! ported Lowest. WASHINGTON, Dec. 19. Government plana for a billion bushel wheat crop next year to help the United States feed its allies have received a setback. It was disclosed today by the December crop report re-port of the department of agriculture that while winter wheat was planted on the largest acreage ever sown 10 that cereal, Its condition on December 1 was the lowest on record for that date. A winter crop of 540, 000,000 bushels was forecast by the bureau of crop estimates. The actual production will be greater or less than that quantity, according as conditions con-ditions hereafter are better or worse than average. Through a great spring crop it is still hoped to bring the year's total to somewhere near the billion mark. An area of more than 47.000,000 acres was the mark set by the government for farmers to plant to winter wheat this fall, but the December canvass shows that 42,170.000 acres were sown. The farmers did their best, department of agriculture officials say, but conditions were against them. The very dry weather in most of the winter wheat belt was a large drawback, draw-back, while late harvest of pther crops and shortage of farm help were contributing contrib-uting causes for the failure. Should the winter wheat crop mature to 540,000,000 bushels as forecast today, it would be the third largest on record, being exceeded only by the , crops of 1914 and 1H15. Government officials had figured on having winter wheat production reach 67-. 000,000 bushels, but today's forecast indicates that it will fall 132.000,000 bushels bush-els short of that figure. Indications are that rye production will be 25,000,000 bushels larger than last year's record crop. Already steps are being taken for a large increase in the acreage of the spring wheat crop to be planted next spring Council of notional defense and depart- , ment of agriculture officials have conferred con-ferred and will adopt measures to insure an adequate labor-supply for planting operations, op-erations, ampie supplies of seed wheat and help for the harvest. The largest spring wheat crop heretofore was in 1915, when 3ol.SM.000 bushels were harvested from lit, 161,000 acres. |