446 



FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



numbers of the Hessian fly, and I predict that they will do very little dam- 

 age in this locality for two or three years, unless they come here from some 

 locality where the conditions have been more favorable for their increase. 

 The area of greatest wheat production in the United States is moving with 

 rapid strides to the west and northwest, while the production in the east 

 remains about the same. In 1849 half the crop was produced on the Atlan- 

 tic coast and eastern slopes of the AUeghanies. In 1884 half the crop was 

 grown beyond the Mississippi, and only one-eighth on the Atlantic coast. 



The westward movement of wheat production is shown by the following 

 table : 



Number of Millions of Bushels of Wheat Raised per Year for Successive Periods in 



Different Sections of the United States. 



Year. 



1849 

 1859 

 1869 

 1879 

 1884 



Total. 



99 

 172 

 286 

 458 

 511 



During this period the wheat acreage of the United States increased from 

 eight millions of acres to thirty-nine millions. The world's production of 

 wheat has not only kept pace with consumption but has recently been in 

 excess. In the United States, the acreage of excess over the home require- 

 ments is over ten millions of acres at the present time, and is an excess much 

 larger than the surplus acreage of all other countries combined, outside of 

 Europe. 



In 1849 the product was four bushels for each inhabitant ; in 1859, five 

 bushels; in 1869, seven and one-half bushels; in 1879, nine bushels; and 

 in 1884, nine and one-half bushels. From 1849 to 1884, a period of 35 years, 

 the increase of population was 141 per cent, while the increase in the pro- 

 duction of wheat was over 410 per cent. Wheat growing was stimulated 

 greatly between 1875 and 1880 by failure in crops elsewhere, causing a 

 demand which never existed before and may never exist again. Meantime 

 the world's production of wheat is steadily increasing, depressing prices, 

 furnishing cheap bread to consumers, and little profit to producers, and yet 

 the inquiry is made, why are prices so low? We will take a look at the 

 wheat crop of the world, for the years of 1886 and 1887, as shown by statis- 

 tics furnished me by the statistician of the Agricultural Department. 



