16 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



While the exports of corn as such from this country are small when 

 comparison is made with the size of the crop, they averaged G7,400,000 

 bushels during the five years 190G-1910, and constitute one-third of 

 the world's exports of com. 



This crop has secured a greater importance in national economy 

 because of the multiplication of its uses. Formerly a feed for ani- 

 mals and as meal or hominy a food for man, it is now made into 

 varied food products and finds numerous industrial uses, largely due 

 to the work of the chemist. 



COTTON. 



That a large crop may be worth less to the producers than a small 

 one is exemplified by the cotton crop of this year. Commonly sup- 

 posed to be the largest one ever grown, this crop has reached a price 

 that is 5 cents a pound of lint below that of last year, when the crop 

 was much less in quantit}^, and for the same reason the price of seed 

 has declined. Apparently', the value of the fiber and seed of this 

 year's crop will not exceed $775,000,000, an amount that is below that 

 of two former crops, although above the average of the preceding 

 five years. 



There is no crop that this country produces that excites such world- 

 wide interest as cotton, for the reason that the crop of the United 

 States is about three-fifths of the world's production, contributes 

 two-thirds of the world's exports, and has a fiber of a sort that has 

 no direct competition in other countries. 



It is raw cotton, much more than any other commodity, that makes 

 this country's export value loom large. This fiber contributes about 

 one-half of the value of agricultural exports, and more than a quar- 

 ter of that of all exports. During the fiscal year 1911, for the first 

 time in history, the value of the exported cotton not only passed 

 the half-billion mark, but reached the amount of $585,000,000, or 

 $148,000,000 more than the average of the five preceding years. 



HAY. 



The considerable failure of the hay crop has caused an increase of 

 farm price of only about $2.50 per ton over that of 1910. With a 

 production of only 47,000,000 tons this year, this crop is far below 

 the five-year average yield of 63,500,000 tons, and was exceeded by 

 the crop of 1884 and every year since 1888. 



The farm value of this year's crop, however, is slightly above the 

 five-year average. In the case of some other kind of crop, three- 

 quarters of the usual production would cause a much greater relative 

 increase of price than is found in this crop, and the reasons why the 

 hay price has not responded in greater degree are probably the good 



