20 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



1911. but is about $150,000,000 below the estimate for 1910, which is 

 the only year that exceeds 1912 in value of animal products produced 

 on the farm. 



AVhile the animal products are about one-third of the value of the 

 wealth production of the farm in 1912, the crops are about two- 

 thirds. Their value in 1912 is $6,137,000,000, an amount which is 

 vastl}' above the high-water mark of total crop value in 1911. 



Such are some of the details with which the grand aggregate of 

 $9,532,000,000 has been built to represent the farm value of the wealth 

 created on the farms of this country in 1912. This industry of agri- 

 culture has grown to be so great that in discussing such features as 

 these hundreds of millions and billions are common coins of 

 expression. 



PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS. 



COMPARISON WITH RECENT YEARS. 

 CHANGES SINCE 1911. 



Farm prices at which the crops of 1912 are valued declined from 

 the prices of 1911 in the cases of some important products. The 

 barley crop has declined about 36 per cent in price per bushel; the 

 corn crop about 10 per cent ; the oats crop about 25 per cent ; the rye 

 crop about 17 per cent; and the wheat crop about 5^ per cent. The 

 large crop of hay caused a decline of about 19 per cent in price per 

 ton, and the extraordinarily large potato crop suffers a decline 

 of about 43 per cent from the price of 1911. For a reason already 

 stated, there is cause for the decline of about 42 per cent in the price 

 of the hop crop per pound. The flaxseed crop has declined about 

 27 per cent in price, beet-sugar and cane-sugar crops about 22 per 

 cent. 



The price of the cotton crop of 1912 has gained about 25 per cent 

 over that of the crop of 1911, and the price of the seed has gained 

 nearly 5 per cent. The gain of price for the rice crop is nearly 13 

 per cent, for the tobacco crop about 7^ per cent, and for the wool clip 

 nearly 7 per cent. 



Among the dairy products the price of the year's product of but- 

 ter has increased about 11 per cent over that of 1911, and the price 

 of milk nearly 5 per cent. A decline of nearly 1 per cent is found in 

 the price of the j^ear's production of poultry, and a gain of nearly 16 

 per cent in the price of the year's production of eggs. 



COMPARISON V/ITH AVERAGE OF FI\^ YEARS. 



When the price adopted for the crop of 1912 is compared with the 

 mean of the preceding five years, decreases are noticed all along the 

 line. The decrease for corn is 1.4 per cent; for wheat, 9.1 per cent; 



