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Show I sins nnii OF W1NDIH H Bank Letter Discusses Western B Wheat Conditiona in H Candid Manner H In its last trado and finance H .letter, the National Copper Dank H of Salt Lake City discusses at H considerable length the situation H in the country with respect to H tho production of wheat, and H makes nomo valuable suggestions H as to tho plan to be followed by H tho farmers in the arid states in H ordor to secure the best yield and B mnko the raising of wheat the H most profitable. H Tho letter, in part is as fol- H lows: INTERMOUNTAIN WHEAT LANDS. H It is porhaps not genorally re- j alized twit one of the largest un- H developed wheat areas in the H Unitod States centers about Salt M Lake City. In Utah alono there M nro probably 15,000,000 acres of H land, now unused, whose soil and H climato characteristics mako H whoat a natural crop. In south- cm Idaho there arc 10,000,000, in Novada another 10,000,000, and in southwestern Wyoming por- haps 3,000,000 more. Thcso to-B to-B tals, whilo necessarily approxi-m approxi-m mations, are as nearly correct as m careful checking with fairly ac-H ac-H curate data can mako them, and M aro known to be under rather B rather than over the mark. Out H of this sum of 38,000,000 acres, j less than 700,000 nro now in m wheat. Tho total available area H is now equal to the entiro present wheat acreago of tho United 1 States. BL Tho soil is uniformly excellent. Tn?nsTrTSt(SWfy"7IeT m is composed of sand 'and silt or H detritus, with tho two lattorpro H dominating. Heavy, stHV clay fl soils aru the rarcexception. It is H easily worked, is n loose, warm M loam of fine texture and woll M compacted, possessing a millle B ient amount of nitrogen ol high H nvailibility. rich in the needed H mineral constituents, retentivo H of moisture, and liomogencous to H tho dopth unheard of in the east- H cm and central portions of the B continont. It is an almost ideal M combination for farming. Tho m rainfall varies, in different lo M call tics, from soven to twonty- m five inches per annum, and it is H important to stato that the M bulk of it comes in tho cool seas- H on of winter and spring, a fact H which makes it possiblo to con- H serve in tho -soil a very largo H portion of tho moisture. In the H famous wheat regions of Wash- H ington and Oregon tho rainfall H has the samo rango, but not alto- gothor tho samo oxcollont season- H 1 distribution. B Our oxperionco with tho win- H tor wheats has shown that as H high as sixty bushels per aero H can bo raised by the use of prop- H per methods. A general average H output of 22 bushels to the acre H is easily attainable, as against a H present average for tho United H States of 14 bushels. This rate H of production on all the inter- H mountain land available would H mean an annual output of nearly H 500,000,000 bushels of wheat, a M sum more than that of Australia, H Mexico, South America andCan- H ada taken together. It moans H that the inter-mountain states H could ad.l 11 per cent to the H wheat crop of the world. At H the average annual price for tho H last ton years this would mean H -- an additional gross income of H about ?4r0,000,000. (It is true H that if all this tonitory were under cultivation, the production produc-tion of wheat alone would not be so large as we suggest, for tho very good reason that a large portion of the district is fitted with for diversified farming, farm-ing, and will evidently be so employed, em-ployed, with a consequent money return still larger than we have indicated.) Though these figures seem high, nhd are high, ve are well assured that they are within the fact. We have for instance excluded all lands with a precipitation precip-itation of less than ten inches, though in Columbia Basin a large portion of the wheat is produced under a rainfall of about seven to ton inches. Experience absolutely ab-solutely fails to show any deterioration deter-ioration in tho quality of wheat after being grown here for a series of years. Tho reverse is true, for the richness of tho soil and its lack of excessive moisture mois-ture combine to produco a grain that commands a premium. As to the market for such a va3t amount of wheat, it is sufficient suf-ficient to state that tho price is rising steadily and has for a generation. Our domestic market mar-ket is growing steadily stronger, and altogether tho national production pro-duction of wheat has materially increased, our export totals have fallen of! with nlanning quickness quick-ness during the last ten years until tho figuro for 1910 was lower tnan any but one since 187(5. This mains butone thing, that within a very short time wo shall become importers of wheat unless our acreage and our production per ncro is increased. In Europe the wheat deficit is becoming more marked each year. In twenty years' time it has increased its annual production produc-tion of wheat by a half billion bushels annually, but nevertheless neverthe-less has had to increase its im- jttr.totfow.lff lfft.flOP.ffl)0 torch-, els. It must not be forgotten either that these figures takcj into account tho vast plains of Russia. Even Eastern Europo has found it necessary to increase in-crease its production by five bushels for each ono that it has been able to add to its oxport total. These figures indicate the general fact, namely, that the production of wheat in all civilized civ-ilized countries tends to lag behind be-hind consumption. That prices havo not risen more than they have is duo to tho fact that new acreago has been constantly coming under cultivation. Considering the rapidly in- , creasing population of the Unit- ( ed States, especially tho non-pro- ( ducing urban population, and tho consequent demand for bread stuffs, wo shall very soon i bo forced to import or extend , our production. Importation isj practically inevitable in tho long I run, in any case, for as lands become better settled and more , valuablo tho tendency is to abandon aban-don whoat in favor of crops of higher money value. Nevertheless, Neverthe-less, enough grain can be grown in the Intermountain West to postpono importation indefinitely, indefinite-ly, and it is a safe prediction that this will be tho next of the groat lmrd wheat areas. Thot world's markets will take all we, can produce at prices that will materially increase tho national i prosperity. Several things aro needed for' the full realization of the possi-' bilities, for instance, better rail-1 road facilities in districts like I tho treasure- valley of San Juan and Grand counties, and money available for farm loans. BUT, . FIRST OF ALL, THE FARMER. MUST ABANDON THE GROWING GROW-ING OF WHEAT ON IRRIGATED IRRIGAT-ED LANDS. Such grain contains con-tains too little protein and too I much of moisture, and cannot ! compete with tliat grown under . standard conditions. We should j remember thatl irrigation is a ! specialized kind! of farming suitable suit-able for tho growing of such crops as fruits and the small vegetables, and that irrigation water is too valuable to waste a drop of it in the cultivation of the cereals, even If the irriga-j tionist Were able to produce i grain of as fine a quality, which j ho is not. Wo have in the past grown too many varieties of wheat, practically all of them the soft, white varieties characterized by a low gluten content Our commonest wheat, Gold Coin, is actually at the bottom Of the list. Both factors have given a low valuo to tho wheats of the Intermountain Inter-mountain West, as flour for bread-making purposes must be of a uniform grade and of high gluten content. There has been too strong a tendency among us in tho past to bring to the market mar-ket grain that we can only describe des-cribe as "just Jwheat." Consequently, Conse-quently, Utah fjour is discriminated discrimi-nated against bjy bakers, not only abroad, but at home, except in those cases wlk re it is known to bo milled ffom sur best grade of hard wheat, ir which case it is eagerly sougl it for. Now it is just as impo :tant to stick to ono or two strai ght varieties in the raising of v 'heat as of fruit, for bakers Uriijversally make a sharp distinction between the flour made from soft or ungraded wheats and those made from the hard grades. The hard wheats contain tho moilt protein and the flour made fronh them will "make up" into a greater number of loaves per pound of flour. This preference, of! course, governs tho market fori wheat, which is iUIfiCted byonljono ver large. commerreJJiad--n. e., that of tho macaftri manufacturers, whose prefcren to is also for a super-hard gra a high in gluten content. The econd great necessity ne-cessity is the eforo that our farmers shouU center upon a hard wheat th t will meet the demands of thi market. It is a demoi rtrated fact that with care in st d selection, and tho.eliminatic i of all but one variety, i. e., -ho Turkey Red winter wheat the superiority of which has been proven by exhaustive m ling and labor- alory tests, the Great Basin can become oh'e of the finest wheat growing countries in the world as well as one of the most prolific, pro-lific, far surpassing the Pacific Coast in the quality or its product pro-duct and at least equalling the Dakotas and Kansas. Our wheat lands are in large part public lands available for 'entry, and the entire area affords room for a million people, not to 'speak of the increased urban population which would follow such an influx of farmers and their families. Each statement made with reference ref-erence to the possibilities of the wheat-growing industry in the Into 'mountain west has been approved by Dr. John A. Wid-tsoe, Wid-tsoe, President of Utah Agricultural Agricul-tural College and the leading authority au-thority on western farming conditions, con-ditions, whose name we quote by permission. The unusual crop to be harvested har-vested by the intermountain states this year calls attention to and lays heavy emphasis upon the desirability of more adiquate marketing arrangements. The working out of a suitable scheme presents difficulties, but is entirely en-tirely feasible, and we suggest that a study of the plans in vogue in Yakima, Grand Junction and other places might be of great assistance in forming plans for our own use. Whether such plans take the form of selling sel-ling associations or not, it is unquestioned that some sort of co-operative advertising of Utah farm products is needed, as is also co-operation in the grading of fruits for market. The question ques-tion also arises as to 'whether such activity might profitably be extended to the handling of oth-. er crops than the fruits a point worthy of ths mo3t careful consideration. |