No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. .15 



are smaller than ten years ago. These 8 crops now occupy about 

 61 per cent, of the improved land of the State, hay and forage alone 

 representing 24.4 per cent. Corn, wheat, rye, and hay with other 

 forage crops show decreases from 1899 to 1909 in the per cent, of 

 improved land occupied. During the past decade there was a 

 decrease of 414,137 acres, ox 8.7 per cent, in the acreage of all cereals, 

 and of 181,336 acres, or 5.5 per cent, in that of all hay and other 

 forage. Potatoes increased in acreage 34.146 acres, or 15 per cent, 

 and tobacco 13, 982 acres, or 50.4 per cent. 



In the average value per acre, corn exceeds the other cereals, and 

 wheat is a close second, while buckwheat and r^^e are less than one- 

 half, and oats approximately two-thirds as great as corn in that 

 respect. The average value per acre of hay and other forage is about 

 three-fourths that of corn, and less than one-third that of potatoes. 

 Tobacco shows the highest average value per acre, being more than 

 five times as great as wheat and over twice that of potatoes. The 

 average value per acre of all cereals combined is |16.27, which is 

 slightly above the average of hay and other forage, and less than that 

 for either corn or Avheat. 



The leading counties in the acreage of hay and other forage in the 

 order of their importance are Bradford, Crawford, Lancaster, Susque- 

 hanna and Tioga. Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga, together with 

 Wayne county, forming a row of couuties along the northern boun- 

 dary, report nearly one-seventh of the total acreage for the State. 



The decrease in the acreage of corn is confined to no particular 

 section ; there are, however, three groups of counties in which in- 

 creases are shown — first, 10 mountainous counties in the east central 

 part of the State; second, Somerset and Bedford counties; and third, 

 Armstrong, Butler and Clarion counties. The acreage of wheat 

 shows heavy decreases throughout the counties of the State with 

 the exception of a group of five counties in the southeastern section, 

 which show slight increases. The seven counties of Franklin, Cum- 

 berland, Adams, York, Lancaster, Berks and Chester report more 

 than one-third of the wheat acreage of the entire State. Decreases in 

 the acreage of oats are shown in the northeastern and western por- 

 tions of the State, the group in the southeastern section reporting, 

 as a whole, the largest decreases. The increase in the acreage of 

 buckwheat is due to its increased cultivation throughout the western 

 three-fourths of the State, this increase being sufficient to ofl'set 

 the general decrease throughout the eastern quarter. The three 

 counties of Bradford, Indiana and Tioga report more than one-fifth 

 of the total acreage of this crop. There are three general groups 

 of counties which show an increase in the acreage of rye. The small- 

 est of these groups comprises Franklin and Adams counties on the 

 extreme southern line; the second in importance is a group in the 

 central part of the State consisting of Center, Union, and MiJBflin 

 counties; the third and largest is made up of eight western and 

 southwestern boundary counties. The remainder of the State, aside 

 from a few scattered counties, shows marked decreases, especially 

 in the northern and west central portions. 



More than one-fifth of the potato acreage is reported from the five 

 counties of Lehigh, Berks, Chester, Lancaster and York. Lancaster 

 county alone harvests nearly 80 per cent, of the tobacco crop. 



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