ABSTRACTS OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF 



AGIlltULTLKE. 



DIVISION OF STATISTICS. 



JlEPORT No, S9 (NEW SKKIKSj, OCTOBER, 181>1 {])]). 521-500). — Tliis 

 includes articles <ni the yield i>er aeie of wheat, ne. l)ailey, and oats; 

 the condition of corn, potatoes, buckwheat, and tobacco October 1; tlie 

 crop of flaxseed in JS91; the wine industry of !N"apaCounty,Califonii;i : 

 foreiji'ii tariffs on agricultural pr(»ducts; taritis under reci[)i'ocit\ 

 treaties; agriculture in Bolivia and .lapan: European crop report i'"v 

 October; and transportation rates for October. 



Fluxxei'd. — A Kjipcial iuvestigation, uudertakcn for tbe pnrposo of asctrtaininj; tlio 

 production of flaxseed this year, slio.ws that there has been a large inirease in thr 

 area devoted to this crop durinj; the la«t 2 years, the iucreuient l»ein|^ entii> i 

 west of the Mississippi River, and confined mainly to the States of Minnesota, lou 

 Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Tlie acreajje for 1891 is estimated at 1,927, li;'j 

 acres, and tlie product of seed 15,455,272 buslnds. The season was mainly favorable 

 and the avcraj^e yield lar<:e. * » • 



The enlarjiement is in those districts having the larger proportion of new lands. 

 * * • Flax has been found the best cro]> for fii-st cultivation on sod land, assisting 

 in getting the soil into good tilth forothercrops, besides beinga money crop. * • » 

 Anotiicr jioteiit reason, however, for the heavy enlargement during the past 2 

 years is the fact that there has been a steady d<-niand for flaxseeil at prices which 

 have paid for its cultivation lietter than the returns from whe;it growing. ♦ » ' 

 An increased acreage based upon such reasons can not be permanent, and already, 

 with lower oflerings on the farm for the see<l, there are indications that some jmrtion 

 of the area Avill be al)andoned next year. 



Under present conditions the crop is grown almost entirely for seed, the fiber not 

 being made use of to any great I'.xtent. * * ' As many correspondents declare, 

 flax growing for the seed alone does not pay except as a flrst crop. The future of 

 the industry depends upon the utilization of the fiber as well as of the seed. There 

 are indications in some sections of the Northwest, especially in Minnesota, of po]inlar 

 interest in the (luestion of establishing a fiber industry; and in fact this interest has 

 been a factor in the increase in the area givt-n to flax in that State. 



DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



Insect Life, Vol. IV, Nos. 1 and 2, October, ISOl (pp. SO, fijj. 

 1). — This double nund)er consists f<u- the most jiart of the }>rocc«'dini:s 

 of the Association of Economic Entomolojjists held at Washinjjton, 

 326 



