OCR Text |
Show FARMERS ASKED TO PLANT MORE WHEAT GREATEST CROP IN HISTORY WILL BE NEEDED TO FEED ALLIES NEXT YEAR. Even With Normal Good Crops, Such as is Evident for This Fall, the Country's Reserve Supply is Practically Exhausted. Washington. The department of agriculture, it was announced July 21, has asked farmers to sow 47,500,000 acres in winter wheat this fall. This would yield approximately 6G7.000.0O0 bushels the greatest winter wheat crop in history. While the request specifically mentions men-tions 45,000,000 acres as the area to be sown, it asks farmers if they cannot can-not raise the total to 47,500.000 acres. The latter acreage would be a 12 per cent increase over last year, and would provide abundantly for the needs of the allied nations. When harvest time rolls around it will be known as the "liberty wheat harvest," according to the plan of the department. Officials also plan corresponding corre-sponding increases in the production of spring wheat and live stock. The last I crop report forecast a 191S harvest of ! S90.930.0OO bushels of winter and I spring wheat. If weather conditions are favorable the 1919 harvest of win- ter and spring wheat will be well over I the billion mark in bushels. I From the 45.000.000 acreage, how-j how-j ever, a total of 030.000,000 bushels would be raised, on the basis of an average yield of 15.7 bushels per acre land an abandonment of 10 per cent of I the area sown on account of the win-I win-I ter kill. v J Even with u normal good crop, such as is evident for this fall, the country's coun-try's reserve supply, or "carry over," is practically exhausted, it is said, and at all events is the smallest on record. |