AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN xxxv 



there is a big' drop, the reported value of wheat being less than one-sixth 

 that of oats. In both value and yield winter wheat outranks spring wheat, 

 though the latter exceeds the former both in acreage and in number of 

 farms reporting. Potatoes show a value nearly as great as that of wheat. 

 Timothy seed in some sections of the state is an important crop. Of the 

 total acreage of this crop, almost one-third is reported from six counties — 

 three in the northeastern and three in the southeastern and southern 

 parts of the state. Of the 15,041,039 acres devoted to cereals in 1909, 

 over three-fifths were in corn, which, together with the acreage in oats, 

 accounts for over nine-tenths of the whole. "Timothy and clover mixed" 

 and "timothy alone" constitute nearly three-fourths of all hay and forage 

 crops. Alfalfa is reported for every county, except two, yet three-fourths 

 of the acreage is in the western tier of counties. 



For several of the less important crops the acreages are omitted be- 

 cause of uncertainties in the reports; it is believed, however, that the re- 

 ports of yields are reliable. During the past decade none of the minor 

 crops, with the exception of alfalfa, have made much headway. This crop 

 is now grown by about one farmer in fifty and is valued at nearly $25 per 

 acre. 



The fluctuations in the acreages of some of the principal crops during 

 the past 30 years are shown in the following table: 



*Not reported. 



The acreage in corn increased from approximately six and two-thirds 

 millions in 1879 to a little more than nine and three-quarters millions in 

 1899, subsequently decreasing to somewhat less than nine and a quarter 

 millions in 1909. The acreage in oats and also that in barley more than 

 trebled between 1879 and 1899, but decreased slightly during the past de- 

 cade. The acreage of wheat has varied widely at different periods. At the 

 present census it is less than one-third as large as it was in 1899, and 

 slightly less than it was in 1889. In 1879, however, the acreage of wheat 

 was almost six times that reported in 1909. For all cereals combined there 

 was a falling off in acreage, during the last decade, of 1,879,056, or 11.1 

 per cent, all of the important cereal crops sharing in the decrease. By 

 far the greatest of the decreases is that shown for wheat, the acreage of 

 which decreased over two-thirds during the decade. For the other cereal 

 crops, with the exception of rye, the decrease in acreage was relatively 

 small, being in the case of barley 9 per cent, with corn and oats following 

 in order. The only crop here enumerated for which a gain in acreage is 



