13 



• 



" In reply to the inquiry of a fjentleman in Illinois, who is collectincf facts bearing' upon the 

 question of transportation between the west and tbe east, Mr. Newtuu, the Coumiissioiier of 

 Ag:riculturc,-fuinishes the following estimate of wheat, rye, barley, and oats produced in the 

 northwest for the year 1865 : 



"Wheat. Rye. Barlev. Oats. 



Indiana bushels.. 13,0-2(1,803 371,123 3.'>0,504 3,0fi-2,351 



Michigan bushels.. 16,378,488 413, l.')0 391,562 7,275,331 



Illinois bushels.. 25,266,745 833,069 1,058,931 27,08-!,197 



\Viscon.sin bushels.. 20,307,920 945,400 843,649 18,406,758 



Minnesota bushels.. 3,425,4d7 178,171 178,310 3,388,848 



Iowa bushels.. 13,698,542 119,333 561.068 12,007,380 



Missouri bushels.. 2,953,363 218,529 148,855 2,501,013 



Kansas bushels.. 191,519 4,061 6,661 155,290 



Nebraska bushels.. 166,348 2,080 6,297 335,929 



Total 95,409,195 3,084,916 3,545,837 80,281,094 



We do not know how near right Mr. Newton is in his estimates for other States, but in the 

 case of Minnesota he is very wide of the facts. He credits the entire State with only three 

 millions and a half bushels of wheat, which is manitestly less than oiic-lia If of the exports of 

 the State for 18t)5. The city of Winona alone exported last year within a million of bush- 

 els of the quantity assigned by Mr. Newton to the whole State. The Commissioner had 

 better revise his statistics before he publishes his next volume on agriculture." 



Indorsed on tlie margin of tliis editorial, by the person sending it to the de- 

 partment, is " Miunet-ota, 10,000,000 bushels Avheat in 1S65." Letters from 

 that State, claiming 8,750,000 bushels of an export of wheat in 1865, and a 

 crop of 10,000,000 bushels for that year, have been received by the department. 



If this claim, thu^ put forth, is at all correct, then the estimate of the depart- 

 ment is so wide of the fact that the system it has adopted to estimate the amount 

 of the crops is fallacious, and its results unworthy the least regard. It is ne- 

 cessary, therefore, to examine this assumed crop of ten millions of bushels, as 

 also the estimate of the department. 



The following table is compiled from the census reports of 1840, 1850, and 

 1860. It exhibits the population of the northwestern States, their wheat pro- 

 duction, and the yield per inhabitant for these years. 



States. 



Ohio. , 

 Do 

 Do 



Indiana. 

 Do ... 

 Do ... 



Illinois 1840 



Do 1850 



Do I 18ti0 



1840 

 1850 

 1860 



1840 

 1850 

 IbGO 



1,519,407 

 1, 980, 3-29 

 2, 339, 511 



683, 866 



988,416 



1, 350, 4i!8 



476, 183 



85 1, 470 



1, 711, 951 



212,267 

 3!i7, 654 

 749, 113 



30, 945 

 305, .391 

 77.5,881 



192, 214 

 6i 4, 943 



172, 123 



— = H 



2, 1.57, 108 10. 1 

 4,925,889 12.4 

 8,313,185 11.1 



212, 116 

 4, 286, 131 

 15, 812, 625 



1, 530, 581 

 8, 433, 205 



2, 195, 812 



6.9 

 14.0 

 20.4 



8.0 

 12.5 



12.7 



This table shows that with the exception of one year, that of Wisconsin for 

 1860, the highest yield was fourteen bu.shels per inhabitant. The extraordinary 

 yield of Wisconsin for 1860 is 20^^ bushels. It is, however, a wheat-producing 

 State almost entirely, having a limited city population, and such as are engaged 



