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last decade wheat has been the principal crop, and approximately 50,000,000 bushels have been exported annually. The total area of Argentina is over a million English square miles, an area equal to all of that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi, with the Dakotas, Minnesota and Iowa added. Wheat growing began in the north and extended in that direction farther than was advantageous. It is estimated that there are at least 60,000,000 acres of land that will eventually be producing wheat. One great advantage is that

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the land can be worked at almost any time of the year, for the climate is comparatively moderate. It is probable that the development of the wheat industry in Argentina will be more rapid than in Russia."

Canadian Wheat Production.-Canada has greater possibilities of an immediate and rapid increase in wheat production than any other country. It holds this position of pre-eminence 1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bul. 27, 1904.

2 Bicknell, Wheat Production and Farm Life in Argentina, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bul. 27, 1904.

wheat in the United States. As yet there is about 5 per cent of this land under cultivation 000,000 bushels of wheat are annually produced. of the Canadian Northwest ranks with the worl and the Toronto papers quote it at a price a above that of Ontario wheat. In some years o crop grades No. 1 hard, and it is greatly desired for mixing with lower grade wheats for the pu taining a desirable and uniform strength of flour. wheat per acre is larger in Canada than in the The average yield of spring wheat in Manitoba 1900 was 19 bushels. During the same period of in the Dakotas was about 11 bushels, while that of the United States was 13.3 bushels. The la seems to be more productive, the climate more f the methods of farming better. About one-fourth try is capable of tillage.

The settlement of Canadian lands is progressing large proportion of the immigrants and a grea capital come from the United States. From Mar of 1902, about 25,000 emigrants went from the Uni Canada. 12,000,000 acres of land have been settled In effect, the homestead laws of Canada are simila the United States. Transportation facilities are b developed in order to meet the demands of the inc lation, and some of the largest modern grain eleva ing constructed. It appears as if Canada is destined to produce the bulk of North American export whea climate is unfavorable to the production of corn

other crops, and it is very likely that the growing of wheat will be one of the great permanent industries of Canada, especially as the population is so largely agricultural.1

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Wheat in the United Kingdom. The imports of wheat by Great Britain are far greater than those of any other country and approximate two-fifths of those of the world. It is this fact which gives the United Kingdom its position of unusual importance in the wheat industry. About the time of Christ the Normans made England so productive of "corn" (wheat) that a large amount of grain was exported, and England was known as "The Granary of the North. At the close of the eighteenth century the average crop of Great Britain was over 60,000,000 bushels. In 1852 the wheat acreage was over 3,500,000 acres. With the development of wheat production in the United States and other countries having great natural advantages over the United Kingdom, the price of wheat declined to such a degree that it became more profitable for the latter country to grow other crops and to import the bulk of its wheat. By 1868, less than 2,500,000 acres of wheat were grown in Great Britain, and the acreage continued to decline for over a quarter of a century. Less than 2,000,000 acres of wheat are now annually grown, but the yield is over 30 bushels per acre. During the decline in wheat acreage the price fell in still greater proportion. Wheat imports to England began about 1846.

Australian Wheat Production.-Wheat growing has not always been a profitable industry in Australia. It has been claimed that there is less return there for the farmer's labor than in any other civilized country. Wheat thrives best on the cooler and drier lands of the southern part of Australia. Many farmers, however, have abandoned wheat raising for the cultivation of the grape vine, which is a more profitable crop in good seasons. Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia are the chief wheat growing states. The yield per acre is never large, and short crops often result from severe droughts. For this reason Australia is not a reliable exporter. The production of wheat has been increasing, however, and 1 Saunders, Wheat Growing in Canada, 1904. 2 Warner, Landmarks Eng. Indus. Hist., pp. 8-11.

Dut it is insuшcient for domestic neeus. ine per tion of wheat in France is large, and about one-s agricultural territory is devoted to this industry of the liberal encouragement given by the govern account of the conservatism of the French peasan and production of wheat in France has been pra form for over a quarter of a century. Excep France produces more wheat than any other Europ Austria-Hungary ranks next, and then come Ital many. The latter country stands next to Englan imports. Roumania and the Netherlands each expo 000,000 bushels of wheat annually, and Belgium ex half of this amount.

In the time of the Pharaohs and in the time of Ro ness, Egypt was the most important commercial wh of the world. It is estimated that Egypt annually 20,000,000 bushels of wheat to Rome. Ancient Maur Numidia, the present Algeria and Tunis, were also granaries of the Eternal City. Although wheat is stil from Northern Africa, it does not form the principal of the wheat produced is of the durum varieties, and commercial use is for the manufacture of macaroni thrives well in parts of southern Africa, and severa bushels are annually produced.

The World Production and Movement of Wheat.-E the time of Malthus there have been periodical predicti scarcity of food supply for mankind. Less than a de Sir William Crookes, President of the British Associa the Advancement of Science, predicted that a serious

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in the supply of wheat would exist by 1931 on account of the increasing population. Such predictions generally over-emphasize the numerical increase in population which is current, and fail to give due regard to the laws which control the production of the food supply and its ratio to population. A scarcity of wheat simply raises its price and increases its production. In the world markets a sudden and acute scarcity of the general food supply is impossible. A gradual decrease in the general food supply until a serious shortage exists is equally impossible, for, whatever the standard of living, population will limit itself long before acute conditions are reached. While several countries each possess many millions of acres of the finest lands— 1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905-6.

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