1898 - Agriculture

Agriculture

U.S. wheat futures reach $1.85 per bushel as the outbreak of the Spanish-American War booms demand. Joseph Leiter has paper profits of $7 million (see 1897), but he holds contracts for 35 million bushels, and when wheat pours into Chicago in June, Leiter's corner on the market is broken. He not only loses his profit but winds up with a debt of $10 million, which is paid by his father.

The United States exports $200 million worth of wheat and flour, up from $60 million worth in 1870.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson sends Schroon Lake, N.Y.-born Louisiana rice planter Seaman A. (Asahel) Knapp, 64, to China, Japan, and the Philippines to investigate rice varieties, production, and milling. Knapp's findings will lead to a marked expansion U.S. rice growing.