6 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



large crop of last year, approximately 900,000,000 bushels were soft. 

 This, of course, was valuable as feed for animals, but less so than 

 corn of normal quality. It should be remembered, in thinking in 

 terms of food nutritional value, that, on the average, only about 12 

 per cent of the corn crop is annually consumed by human beings and 

 that not more than 26 per cent ever leaves the farm. It should be 

 borne in mind also that the stocks of corn on the farms November 1, 

 1918, were 118,400,000 bushels, as against less than 35,000,000 bushels 

 last year, and 93,340,000 bushels, the average for the preceding five 

 years. It is noteworthy that the quality of each of the four great 

 cereals — barley, wheat, corn, and oats — ranges from 3 to 5.4 per cent 

 above the average. 



Equally striking are the results of efforts to secure an ampler supply 

 of meat and dairy products. In spite of the large exportation of 

 horses and mules, the number remaining on farms is estimated to be 

 26,400,000, compared with 25,400,000 for the year preceding the 

 European war and 24,700,000, the annual average for 1910-1914. 

 The other principal classes of live stock also show an increase in 

 number— milch cows of 2,600,000, or from 20,700,000 in 1914 to 

 23,300,000 in 1918; other cattle of 7,600,000, or from 35,900,000 

 to 43,500,000; and swine of 12,500,000, or from 58,900,000 to 71,- 

 400,000. Within the last year, for the first time in many years, there 

 was an increase in the nimiber of sheep — 1,300,000, or from 47,616,000 

 in 1917 to 48,900,000 in 1918. 



In terms of product the results are equally striking. The number 

 of pounds of beef for 1918 is given at 8,500,000,000 pounds, as against 

 6,079,000,000 for 1914; of pork, at 10,500,000,000, as against 8,769,- 

 000,000; and of mutton, at 495,000,000, as against 739,000,000, a total 

 of all these products of 19,495,000,000 for the last year and 15,587,- 

 000,000 for the year preceding the European war. 



An increase is estimated in the number of gallons of milk pro- 

 duced, of 922,000,000, or from 7,507,000,000 to 8,429,000,000, and in 

 the pounds of wool of 9,729,000, or from 290,192,000 to 299,921,000. 

 The figures for poultry production have not been accuratelj^ ascer- 

 tained, but it is roughly estimated that in 1918 we raised 589,000,000 

 head, compared with 544,000,000 in 1914 and 522,000,000, the five-year 

 average, 1910-1914, while the number of dozens of eggs increased by 

 147,000,000, or from 1,774,000,000 in 1914 to 1,921,000,000 in 1918, 

 and, in the last year exceeded the five-year average by 226,000,000. 



