Land of Plenty

Across the land, the crops burgeoned and ripened in unequaled abundance. Total farm production was expected to be the highest in history, 6% above 1946's record.

After a shaky start, wheat was now second only to last year's bumper crop. Rice, soybeans, peanuts and pecans were headed for new records. Most other crops were far above average. The corn crop was phenomenal. From Illinois to Arkansas, the cornfields nodded in silky tassel. The expected crop of 3.5 million bushels was the biggest in U.S. history, and almost half again as large as last year's disappointing yield. It could bring cheaper pork by next spring, cheaper beef by fall, 1949. It should bring down the prices of butter, eggs, milk and poultry.

In Washington, Dennis A. FitzGerald, chief of ECA's food division, hopefully predicted that the unexpected production would permit "appreciably larger" grain exports to Europe. Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer took sharp exception. Said he: "The emphasis is now on recovery, not on relief . . . It may now be time to give some attention to the interests of the American housewife."

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