894 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



It is pointed out that tlie aggregate value of all live stock, including the com- 

 mon domestic animals, poultry, and bees, has increased 59.2 per cent since 1900. 

 The value of cattle, however, has increased only 0.7 per cent, while the increase 

 in the value of horses has been 131.6 per cent. 



The total number of farms reporting poultry increased 9.6 per cent during 

 the decade. The total number of fowls increased 18.1 per cent, and the increase 

 in their value was 78.9 per cent, the total number of fowls being 295,876,170, 

 and the total value $153,394,000 in 1910. Other tables are given showing the 

 value of live stock by classes and geographic divisions in 1910 and 1900, and 

 by farms reporting, and the number, value, and average value of domestic ani- 

 mals by age and sex groups in 1910. 



Land values and land prices in the East and in the West, G. F. Warren 

 (.V. r. Dept. Agr., Rpt. Fanners' lusts., 190S-9, pp. 69-83, pis. 3).— In this 

 address the author points out the extreme importance of capital as a factor 

 in determining the profits that the farmer is able to make, and expresses the 

 opinion from a statistical study that the failure of many a good farmer is 

 primarily due to a lack of capital to manage his business properly. He calls 

 attention to the depreciation of land values and prices in the East as compared 

 with those of the West, showing that laud values in New York State depreci- 

 ated 11 per cent from 1890 to 1900. This he attributes to the development of 

 free laud iu the West, together with the prevalence of farms of too small area 

 in the East and their nearness to cities which easily attracted boys away from 

 them upon the slightest depreciation of bui^iness. 



Tables are given contrasting the average yields and values per acre of the 

 5 leading crops in representative States of the 2 sections for a period of 10 

 years, showing that during that period the average values per acre of these 

 5 crops have been $19.42 in New York, $16.70 in Illinois, and $13.96 in Iowa. 

 Other data are given contrasting the price of farm lands, the cost of pasture 

 land, and farm crops statistics, together with their values, etc. 



Farms for sale or for lease in Rhode Island {R. I. Conserv. Com. Bui. 1, 

 1911, pp. 278, pis. 17, map 1). — This bulletin, issued by the Rhode Island State 

 Conservation Commission, presents a detailed list of farms in Rhode Island 

 for sale or for lease, with special reference to the needs of prospective pur- 

 chasers. 



Survey of Alaska lands, M. D. Snodgrass (Alaska Stas. Rpt. 1910, pp. 65- 

 69). — This report shows the results of a brief and cursory survey of the avail- 

 able agricultural land in the Tauana Valley. A greater portion of the report 

 is based on interviews with prospectors and hunters met by the author at dif- 

 ferent landings along the river, though personal observations were made wher- 

 ever practicable. 



The Valley is reported to be 300 miles long and from 30 to 70 miles wide, 

 aggregating, together with the valleys of various tributaries, about 15,000 square 

 miles of valley land. The southern slopes of the hills in various parts of the 

 Valley are thought to be good farming lands. The lowlands, where drainage 

 is possible, would often produce abundantly but crops here are in greater danger 

 of midsummer frosts. 



Letters from settlers (Alaska Stas. Rpt. 1910, pp. 69-76). — Communications 

 from settlers in various parts of Alaska concerning their success in gardening, 

 cattle raising, or other agricultural enterprises, are given, especially their 

 results with the seed distribution. 



A practical farmer engaged in stock raising and general farming for several 

 years in the coast region of southeastern Alaska calls attention to the difficulty 

 of securing profitable farm help because of the high prices paid for labor in 



