WONTELY REPORT. 
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
Statistical Division, November 25, 1873. 
Sir: I herewith communicate for publication a digest of the Novem- 
ber returns, showing the comparative production of corn, cotton, hay, 
potatoes, and other crops, with extracts from regular correspondence, 
tables of current prices of certain farm products, statistics illustrating 
the condition of agriculture in several European countries, and matter 
pertaining to the operations of the several divisions of the Department. 
J. BR. DODGE, 
Statistician. 
Hon. FREDERICK WATTS, 
Commissioner. 
DIGEST OF CROP RETURNS. 
CORN. 
The November returns do not materially change the corn prospect as 
indicated in October. This crop is so generally grown, its importance 
so great in the farm economy, that the reports are not only numerous, 
but more accurate than local estimates of the minor crops can be, and 
may be relied on as approximating closely the actual fact—possibly not 
so closely aS census returns, perhaps in some cases a greater approach 
to accuracy. The so-called failure in 1869 was indicated before the 
crop was ripe. Instead of eleven hundred millions of bushels, or even 
ten hundred, the estimates footed up’but eight hundred and seventy-four ; 
and a large amount of soft corn was subsequently fed as forage, and 
not counted as corn gathered in the census. The gathered corn re- 
ported in the census was seven hundred and sixty millions of bushels, 
an aggregate actually less by seventy-eight millions than the crop of 
1859, reported ten years previously. The estimate was not a bushel 
higher than the actual amount of corn in the fields at the time, 
including the soft corn, not of equal value, but utilized for feeding 
purposes. There was a good corn-crop in 1870, and the estimate was 
two hundred and twenty millions higher than that of 1869. The present 
returns indicate another “failure” in the exaggerated language of crop 
conversation and random crop reporting—a reduction of two hundred 
and thirty-three millions from that of last year. The per centage of the 
previous crop is 78. This gives eight hundred and fifty-eight million 
bushels. Only six States appear to have as much corn as in 1869, 
