REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



11 



we still have a large area of untouclied tillable land. This is some- 

 what generally understood, but it is not so well known that, as the 

 result of improved processes and better practices in all sections, 

 there has been an upward tendency in the acre yields. As a mat- 

 ter of fact, the view seems more frequently to be expressed that in 

 this respect American agriculture has deteriorated. The facts dis- 

 prove this, and in no part of the Union more strikingly than in the 

 older regions, such as the New England and North Atlantic States. 

 Crop yields per acre in the United States show an upward tend- 

 ency during the period for which we have reliable comparable sta- 

 tistics. The average rate of increase for the past 25 years has been 

 about one-half of one per cent a year. This gain is not readily ob- 

 served from one year to another, owing to the wide yearly fluctua- 

 tions in yield. I>ut when averages for a series of years are obtained, 

 the effect of the seasonal variations is largely neutralized and the 

 general trend is clear. The upward tendency is shown graphically 

 in the following charts : 



