:i 



Fluctuations in the Areas of Farm Crops in OyxARio. 



It is indeed interesting^ to study the crop production of Ontario 

 from year to year. Owing to changed conditions brought about by 

 means of fluctuations in the market prices of farm products, the in- 

 troduction of new and improved varieties of farm crops, the amount 

 of farm help available, the damages caused by insect pests and fungous 

 diseases, as well as by other causes, we find considerable variations in 

 the relative areas devoted to our principal farm crops over a series of 

 years. A table has been compiled from the reports of the Ontario Bur- 

 eau of Industries, and it is presented here to show the area devoted to 

 each farm crop in Ontario in 1904, the average yield per acre of each 

 crop for the past twenty-three years, and the percentage of increase or 

 decrease in the area used for each of the crops for the past five years. 

 The crops mentioned in the table are arranged in the order of their 

 increase or their decrease per acre for the five years from 1899 to 1904. 



Farm Crops. 



Acres of each Crop 

 in Ontario in ISJM. 



Barley 



yangelB 



Beans 



Pasture 



Hay and clover . . 



Oats 



CJorn for silage or 



fodder 



Com for husking . 



Bye 



Turnips 



Potatoes 



Buckwheat . . 

 Winter wheat . . 

 Spring wheat . . . . 



Carrots 



Peas 



Yield per Acre. 

 Average 23 Years. 



Percentage Increase or 



Deer<3a,se in Area in 



last 5 Years. 



772,434 



71,344 



50,892 



3,183,673 



2,926,207 



2,654,936 



193,115 



329,882 . 

 150.702 

 153,207 

 133,819 

 100,608 

 608,458 

 225,027 

 6,654 



1,301 lbs. 



459 bus. 



1^)26 lbs. 



1.45 tons 

 1,217 lbs. 



913 lbs. 



487 bufi. 



115 bus. 



iOe lbs. 



1.218 lbs. 



942 lbs. 



348 bus. 

 1.170 lbs. 



57 lacreate 



34 ** 



21 " 



IS " 



17 " 



12 " 



12 " 

 1 Beciease 



S " 

 13 



20 " 



23 " 



42 " 



44 " 



44 ** 



54 - 



From the figures here presented, it will be seen that the areas de- 

 voted to the growth of barley, mangels, and beans are being increased 

 rapidly at the present time. It will be noticed also that the hay and 

 pasture land has been increased 17 and 18 per cent, w-ithin the past 

 five years. These two crops alone now cover about six million acres 

 of Ontario land each year. The increase in the amount of pasture and 

 hav land in recent years has probably been due, to a very great extent, 

 to the greater number of cattle which is being kept at present as com- 

 pared with former years, A ver}' noticeable feature in connection with 

 this studv is the fact that the area devoted to each of the crops — winter 

 wheat, sJDring wheat, carrots, and peas — has decreased upwards of 40 

 per cent, in the last five years. We find that in 1897. 896,735 acres 

 were used for the pea crop. From that time to the present, the acre- 



