Second Wave

After last fortnight's sharp drop in grain prices, traders last week hoped that prices might steady. Instead, the biggest sinking spell in a year hit the Chicago grain pits at midweek. In one day, all grain futures tumbled their legal limits. In the cash markets, corn hit its lowest price since April 1945 (at Chicago, No. 2 yellow corn dropped from $1.27 a bushel to $1.17). Oats and rye also broke through the levels of OPA days.

The Administration and traders, who had thought support loans and exports would prop up prices, were worried. Irate farm-bloc Congressmen called in Secretary...