OFP'ICIAL, DOCUMENT, No. 7. 



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FOURTE^BNTH ANNUAL RE^PORT 



OF THE 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



Department of Agriculture, 



Harrisburg, Pa., Januai'y 1, 1009. 



Hon. Edwin S. Stuart, Governor of Pennsylvania : 



Sir: I respectfully submit my Sixth Annual Keport as Secretary 

 of Agriculture of the Commonwealth, the same being the 14tli 

 Annua i Report of this Department. 



The year has been crowned with an abundant yield of the fruits 

 of the soil, notwithstanding the fact that over the" greater portion 

 of the State one of the severest droughts ever known to our people 

 prevailed durin,", the portion of the season when some of our farm 

 crops should have been making their largest development. The 

 drought set in about the time of wheat harvest and continued until 

 late in the autumn. Many of the small streams upon which farmers 

 depended for watering their stock dried up during the latter part of 

 the summer, and in very many instances livestock had to be driven 

 a number of miles for their water supply. Great fears were enter- 

 tained for the potato and corn crops, and the final I'esult, as seen 

 when these crops were harvested, proved that Pennsylvania farmers 

 have learned how to preserve the moisture provided by the winter 

 snows and the rain fall of the spring and early summer. When 

 the corn crop of the entire State shows an average of forty bushels 

 per acre and the potato crop makes an equally good record, with 

 scarcely rainfall enoivdi ;'.t any ptn-iod duii.'g the p-rowi'og season 

 to moisten the surface of the earth to the depth of an inch, it is 

 apparent that intelligent culture and the skillful application of the 

 methods employed in recent years for the conservation of soil mois- 

 ture will go a great way in overcoming adverse natural conditions. 



interest in corn culture. 



The corn crop is fast coming to be recognized as being of at least 

 equal importance with the wheat crop, which, a few decades ago, 

 was regarded as the one great money producing crop of the Ameri- 

 CT^ can farmer. The superior excellence of maize or Indian corn for 

 Q^ feeding purposes, particularly for animals that are being prepared 

 QQ for the butchers' market, gives to it a value that cannot be claimed 

 for any of the other cereals. The introduction of the silo into 

 common use by the rapidly increasing number of farmers that are 

 turning their attention to dairy farming has had much to do with 

 increasing the estimated value that is placed upon this crop. The 

 various uses to which it is applied in the preparation of food sup- 

 X)lies for the human family is also an important element in increasing 

 the importance of this valuable ])roduct. 



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