1919 - Agriculture

Agriculture

Famine in eastern Europe boosts demand for U.S. wheat. Prices soar to $3.50 per bushel, and farmers on the southern plains are encouraged to plant wheat on land never before tilled (see 1915; 1921). A farmer with a horse or team can plow only three acres per day, but farmers with tractors will soon be plowing 50 acres per day (see duststorms, 1932; "dust bowl," 1934).

"Sunkist" is the first trademark to identify a fresh fruit commodity. California Fruit Growers Exchange executive Don Francisco, 27, burns the word into the skin of a California orange with a heated fly swatter and urges that all citrus fruit marketed by the Exchange be stamped with the name (see 1895; Chiquita Banana, 1944).