GRAIN PRODUCTION

the growing of those seeds which are utilized as food products, including wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, and even buckwheat, though hotanically the iatter is not properly a grain. The production of grain has, naturally, been most extensively developed in the countries with broad, open plains, such as Ru ia, Canada, Argentina and the United States, rendering other countries economically dependent upon them to a certain extent. Since the World War, Ru ia has, at least temporarily, been eliminated from this cla . In consequence the European countries are proportionately more dependent on Canada, Argentina and especially the United States, for their supply of cereals. In this country the grain crops are by far the most important in all agricultural production, the value of our cereal crops in 1919 being almost $7,000,000,000, as compared to $14,755,- 000,000, the total value of all crops, being very little short of half. Of all our grain crops, corm stands forth as the most important, over 100,000,000 acres being devoted to corm as compared to 56,770,000 acres devoted to wheat in 1922 and a little over 73,000,000 acres in 1919, which was the year of largest wheat production in the history of the country. The value of the corn crop in 1922 was $1,800,000,000, as compared to $720,000,000, the value of the wheat crop in the same year. In quantity the comparison was 818,000,000 bushels of wheat to 2,875,000,000 bushels of corn, being over three times as much corn as wheat. Oats rank third in importance; in 1922 nearly 42,000,000 acres were devoted to oats, the crop being valued a6 $404,000,000, and _ the amount being 1,255,000,000. Thus, in quantity oats were ahead of wheat, _ but in value considerably le . Barley is the fourth most important crop. In 1922 the crop amounted to 194,000,000 - bushels, valued at $88,500,000. In - the same year the rye crop amounted to 79,600,000 bushels, valued at $50,- 300,000. To what extent. these gigantic crops of grain constitute a surplus above domestic needs may be judged from the fact that in 1922 the exports of these commodities were as follows: wheat, 208,000,000 bushels; corn, 176,- els; rye, 30,000,000 bushels; and barley, 22,400,000 bushels. It will be noted that though our corn crop is so - much larger than the wheat crop, the _ surplus is le , corn being very much le - used as a human food product in Europe than in the United States. One of the most important factors tending to increase grain production in the United States was the organization, in 1921, of the United States Grain Growers, Inc., an a ociation of the growers of grain for the purpose of marketing their product co-operatively. The purpose is _ to take the grain trade out of the hands of commi ion merchants, boards of trade and grain speculators generally, and place these commodities directly on the market, where they will be immediately available to the consumers. Over 30,000 producers have already - joined the a ociation, covering about 50,000,000 bushels of grain. (1882), musical composer, Studied at home and under Profe or Kwast in as pianist at 10 years of age, touring Europe, Australia and South Africa. Came to the United States in 1914 and since then has toured the country from coast to coast. Was a specialist in folk-music and has made more than 500 phonographic records. Composer of over 70 works for piano, orchestra, chamber music, etc. His best known compositions include The Su ex Mummers Christmas Carol; Country Gardens; Children’s March; The Sprig of Thyme; ‘British Waterloo; The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow, etc.