REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 17 



HOPS. 



Extraordinary conditions of the world's hop market in 1911 on 

 account of deficient European production have not been repeated 

 this year, and consequently this crop finds a much more normal situ- 

 ation. The production of 1912 is estimated to have been 44,500,000 

 pounds, or about 1 per cent below the 5-year average, but the total 

 value of the crop is 38.3 per cent above the average and amounts to 

 about $11,000,000. 



ALL CEREALS. 



All of the cereals except wheat and rice produced their largest 

 crops in 1912, and consequently the total production of this class of 

 crops is far above the average. The gain is 25.6 per cent above the 

 5-year average. The total production of the seven cereals amounts 

 to 5,609,807,000 bushels, a bulk of food so large as to be entirely 

 beyond understanding. The largest total of any preceding year was 

 4,958,559,000 bushels in 1910. 



The combined value of this great mass of products is a little over 

 $3,000,000,000, and is 15.8 per cent above the average of the previous 

 five years. In no previous year has the value of the cereals exceeded 

 $2,760,000,000, the figures for 1908. 



SUGAR. 



Sugar is a product of manufacture from the farmers' sugar beets 

 and sugar cane. The farm products can best be treated from the 

 point of view of the manufactured sugar and the by-products. 



Beet sugar is a comparativel}^ recent product in this country. The 

 raising of sugar beets for sugar making can hardly be regarded as 

 being an established industry 16 years ago. Beginnings had been 

 made, but the success of the industry was not assured. Under the 

 encouragement of the law, this department and other agencies pro- 

 moted the growth of this industry, and the industry grew year by 

 year and it became more firmly established. 



The latest fruition of all these efforts appears in the magnificent 

 testimonial of the production of 1912. The production of this sugar 

 in 1899, as ascertained by the census, was 81,729 short tons. It in- 

 creased to 218,406 tons in 1902, to 312,921 tons in 1905, to 501,682 tons, 

 according to the census, in 1909, and to 599,500 tons in 1911. The 

 production of 1912 amounts to about 700,000 short tons, or a gain 

 of about 100,000 tons over the preceding year. 



The beet-sugar production of 1912 is about one-fifth of the national 

 consumption of sugar and illustrates what can be done under the 

 protection of the law and in consequence of practical and well- 

 directed efforts. 



70481"— AGB 1912 2 



