OCR Text |
Show FARMERS ASKED 10 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, lias asked farmers to sow 47,500,000 acres in winter wheat this fall. This would yield approximately 6G7,000,000 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 nd live stock. The last crop report forecast a 191S harvest of 890,930,000 bushels of winter and spring wheat. If weather conditions are favorable the 1919 harvest or winter win-ter and spring wheat will be well over the billion mark in bushels. From the 45.000,000 acreage, however, how-ever, a total of 636,000,000 bushels would be raised, on the, basis of an average yield of 15.7 bushels pel' acre and an abandonment of 10 per cent of the area sown on account of the winter win-ter kill. Even with a 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. |