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AGRICULTURE
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following table (No. IV.), increase or decrease in decade from 1840, when products was taken, down
arranged by Holmes, gives the cent.; from 1880 to 1890, 25 per cent.; but the food and five principal crops for each other supplies have far exceeded the demands of even this the first census of agricultural great population. to 1890 :— Until the use of more and cheaper motors becomes possible, farm animals must increase with farming operaTable IV.—Percentage of Increase ( + ) or Decrease { — ) of tions. “At the census of 1890 there were 14,969,467 Production of Farm Crops, by Time Periods. horses on farms, 2,295,532 mules and asses, 1,117,494 working oxen, 16,511,950 milch cows, 33,734,128 other The United Indian cattle, 57,409,583swine,and35,935,364 sheep, not including Wheat. Oats. Cotton. Tobacco. States. Corn. spring lambs ; and in the census year the wool clip amounted 1840 to 1850 + 56-8 + 18-5 + 19-1 + 56-2 - 8-9 to 165,449,239 pounds, not including pulled wool and wool 1850 to 1860 + 41-7 + 72-3 + 17-8 + 118-2 + 117-4 clipped on ranges, which were sufficient, according to the 1860 to 1870 - 9-3 + 66-2 + 63-4 - 44-1 - 39-5 estimates of the department, to make the entire wool clip 1870 to 1880 + 130-6 + 44-6 + 91-1 + 79-9 + 59-7 1880 to 1890 + 21-0 + 1-9 + 98-4 + 29-8 + 3-3 for the census year 276,000,000 pounds. In forty years, from the census of 1850 to that of 1890, the number of 1840 to 1890 + 462-2 + 452-2 + 557-6 + 372-7 + 122-8 horses on farms increased 245'2 per cent.; mules and asses, 310-4 per cent.; milch cows, 158-6 per cent.; other The distinguishing feature of the period 1870 to 1880 cattle, 248 per cent.; swine, 89 "1 per cent.; sheep, not is the rate of increase of corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. including spring lambs, 65"4 per cent., and the farm wool Since 1870 the production of nearly all of the farm crops clip increased 215 per cent.; but working oxen decreased increased more rapidly than the population, the most 34"3 per cent.” (Holmes). absolute proof of the substantial prosperity of the people. The following tables give the most important facts with The increase in population for the fifty years from 1840 regard to the cereal production of the United Statesto 1890 was 267 per cent.; from 1870 to 1880, 30 per between 1870 and 1899 (Tables V. and VI.) :— Table V.—Average Yield and Value of Cereal Crops in the United States, by Periods of Years, 1870 to 1899. The United States.
1870 to 1880 1880 to 1889 1890 to 1896 1897 1898 1899
Average Farm Price j>er Bushel. Dollars. 0-426 •393 •355
Corn. Average Yield per Acre. Bushels. 27-1 24-1 24-1 232425-
Average Value per Acre.
Average Farm Price per Bushel.
Dollars. 11-54 9-48 8-55 67-
Dollars. 05 827 658
Wheat. Average Yield per Acre. Bushels. 1212-1 1313-4 15-3 12-3
Oats. Average Yield per Acre.
Average Value per Acre.
Average Farm Price per Bushel.
Average Value per Acre.
Dollars. 13-00 9-98 8-54 10-86 8-92
Dollars. Bushels. Dollars. 0-353 28-4 10-03 •309 8-22 26-6 •286 25-2 7-21 8 2 275-75 8 1 287-23 3 30-2
Table VI.—Average Yield and Value of Cereal Crops in the United States, by Periods of Years, 1870 to 1896. Barley. Rye. Buckwheat. The United States. Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Average Farm Price Yield per Value per Farm Price Yield per Value per Farm Price Yield per Value per per Bushel. Acre. Acre. per Bushel. Acre. Acre. per Bushel. Acre. Acre. 1870 to 1880 1880 to 1889 1890 to 1896
Dollars. 0738 •589 •374
Bushels. 22-1 2122-
Dollars. 16-34 12-79 8-52
Dollars. 0701 •622 •467
The average farm price of wheat declined, as is shown in the above tables, from $1.05 per bushel for the decade 1870 to 1880 to 65"8 cents for the period 1890 to 1896. farm price of 42-6 cents per bushel for 1870-80 to 35'5 cents in 1890 to 1896. The farm value of wheat per acre ranged from $13 in 1870-80 to $8.54 in 1890-1896; it then advanced to $10.86 in 1897, and fell to $8.92 in 1898. In farm value per acre corn averaged $11.54 in the decade 1870 to 1880, and $8.55 in 1890-96. The ; other cereals declined in the same manner in value per acre. The average production, per acre shows nothing conclusive with regard to the fertility of the soil of the country. The expansion of the crop area usually causes a lowering of the average yield per acre by distributing the culture, fertilizers, &c., over more surface. Likewise the contraction of crop area will usually increase the average yield per acre of the entire country. The average bushels of wheat per acre was 12-4 in the decade 1870 to
Bushels. 14-1 11-9 13-6
Dollars. 9-92 7-39 6-35
Bushels. Dollars. Dollars. 0-715 17-7 12-65 •642 12-8 7 8-24 8 17-4 •490 8-51
1880, and 13 in the period 1890 to 1896 ; of corn, 27-l in 1870 to 1880, and 24"1 in 1880 to 1896 continuously. Oats fell off from 28‘4 to 25’2 bushels per acre from the first to the last period. The agricultural returns for 1890 to 1899 may be taken as an illustration of the cereal production of the United States. The figures for wheat, oats, and Indian corn are presented in Tables Nos. VII., VIII., and IX. The acreage and production of wheat have steadily increased ; the total farm value of the crop has averaged $330,000,000 a year for the last ten years. The acreage in Indian corn, the great American crop, reached its highest in 1899, 82,000,000 acres, and its production its highest figure in 1896, 2,284,000,000 bushels. Producing as the United States does so much more than its people can consume, its exports form a large percentage of some of the crops, as Table X., from the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 1897, shows. The average percentage of wheat crop exported annually
