907 



While farmers have suffered from low prices of certain products, they have been 

 uiiiililt' to reduce the rates of wages. It might be supposed that the d('])ressiou in 

 agriculture, of which so much has been said and written, would bo attended with a 

 dt'diue iu the rate of c(>m])eusatioii paid for labor. This has not taken ])lace. The 

 demand is well sustained. Wages have not declined. Many a farmer com])laius that 

 labor costs too much, that valines of products do not warrant the rates demanded, and 

 yet he must have it, and promptly makes the engagement. It is the compulsion of 

 competition, an indication of geiu'ral employment and a fair degree of pro.sperity. 



The returns give a true explanation of the apparent anomaly of low prices and 

 high wages. There is a ditt'ertmce in employers. Some are progressive, increase the 

 fertility of their lands, use the I>est methods and implements, employ labor, ])ay good 

 wages, and make money; others ;ire less enterprising, diligent, or progressive, and 

 make small net profit or none at all. As margins of prolit grow narrow, skill is at a 

 premium, wastes are ruinous, the skillful succeed, the careless go to the wall. The 

 returns are full of indications that the present is a crucial test of the individual 

 farmer. They teach the necessity of progress in agriculture, and esiiecially a facility 

 for prompt adapttitiou of current effort to changing conditions. 



A ctireful analJ^sis of all the data collected concerning farm wages from 1840 to 

 186"), in comparison with results of the more recent investigations, will shoAv that in 

 50 years the compensation of farm labor has very nearly doubled. * » * 



In comparison with other countries, American farm labor stands first in rate of 

 compensation. The present rate of $282 per annum for labor of the Caucasian race 

 can scarcely be approached by any country, unless by Australia. An average of 

 other countries can not be authoritatively stated, but current estimates have been fre- 

 quently quoted about as follows: Great Britain $150, France $125, Holland $100, 

 Germany $90, Russia $60, Italy $50, and India $30. The present rate can only be 

 maintained by keeping up the fertility of the soil, utilizing the best results of inven- 

 tion and skill in implements and machinery, advancing the status of practical agri- 

 culture, supplying all domestic demands for all required products, and seeking for- 

 eign markets for the suri)lus. 



DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



Bulletin l^o. 27. 



Damage by destructive locusts in 1801, L. Bruner, D. W. 

 Coc^uiLLETT AND H. OsBORN (i)p. 64). — Kepoi'ts of investigations by- 

 three field agents, carried on in view of the fact that locusts were 

 reported to be unn.suallv muneioiis in tlie Western States. Notes are 

 given on Dissosfeira (oiu/ipennisj 1). Hpurcata, Caloptcnus [MelanopluH) 

 spretus, C. atlcmtis, G. bivitatus, C. femur-rubruni, C. devastator^ G. dif- 

 ferentiaUs, Gamnnla peUucida^ Pezofettix enigma, Trimerotropis pseudo- 

 fasoiata, and CEdipoda venKstOj with statements regarding" natural ene- 

 mies and means of repression. Professor Osborn's report was previously 



