4
4
Modern Business Geography
WHEAT
In the four years of the World War, all the civilized people of the
world were made to realize the importance of wheat. Because many
millions of farmers had become soldiers, the production of all food-
stuffs fell off greatly. But it was the falling off in the production of
wheat that caused the greatest distress. The substitutes for wheat,
such as corn, rye, barley, and potatoes, were not equally appetizing
and satisfying. People longed for the return of wheat bread. For a
time it seemed that the side that could get the most wheat and make
it go farthest would gain the victory. ‘‘ Wheat will win the war,”
was a common assertion.
Where our wheat is grown. Although wheat is grown in every
state in the Union, two regions are most important: (1) the north-
eastern United States, from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and western
New York, westward to the Dakotasand Kansas; and (2) eastern Wash-
ington and Oregon (Fig. 28). The wheat belt, where production is
greatest, extends northward across Nebraska, South Dakota, and
North Dakota into Canada, and projects into Minnesota. In this
region wheat is always an important subject of conversation and has
a prominent place in the newspapers, for prosperity depends largely
upon the wheat crop.
Conditions for raising wheat in the wheat belt. Let us see what
conditions cause wheat to be so important in this belt. In the first
place, a relief map of North America shows that the region where
wheat is most abundant is part of the Great Plains. As in most
plains, the soil here is fine and fertile. Furthermore, on rolling plains
it is easy to use large machines for plowing, harrowing, and reaping.
Rainfall is even more important than relief. As Figure 6 shows,
from 15 to 80 inches of rain fall annually in the wheat belt. For-
tunately much of this comes in the fall and early spring, when the
wheat most needs it. But the skies are usually cloudless for a few
weeks before the harvest, and the resulting dry weather ripens the
seeds. -
Temperature is quite as important as rainfall. Wheat growing 1s
restricted to the cool temperate zone; the southern states, for in-
stance, have practically none. Even within the region favorable to
wheat, extensive crops are obtained only by cultivating the particu-
lar kind of wheat suited to the temperature. There are two kinds: one,
planted in the fall, is called winter wheat, while the other, planted in
the spring, is called spring wheat.