MONTHLY REPORT. 



DEPAKTlVrENT OF AaRICULTURE, 



Statistical Division, 



3Iarcn 27, 1875. 

 Sir: The statistical report of tUe present month embodies statements 

 of local preferences for material in soil-fertilization, of the products em- 

 ployed in feeding and fattening animals, the length of time and cost of 

 winter-feeding, the local surplus and local deficiencies of crops ; a state- 

 ment of the production of tobacco in 1875, its quality and value j a rec- 

 ord of minor official statistics ; current market-prices of i)roducts in this 

 and other countries; and bulletins of the work of other divisions of the 

 Department of Agriculture. 



J. E. DODGE, 



Statistician. 

 Hon. Frederick Watts, 



Gomrnissioner. 



STATISTICAL RETURNS FOR MARCH. 



The March circulars sent to our statistical corps, which now repre- 

 sents 1612 counties, including nearly all of the producing area of the 

 country, are ot a miscellaneous character, and not repeated annually. 

 It was deemed desirable to obtain a statement of local preferences for 

 fertilizers and modes of soil-fertilization, and also of the kinds and 

 proportion of products for feeding and fattening animals, the length 

 of time and cost of feeding in winter, and some facts indicative of the 

 local surplus and local deficiencies of the different crops. The following 

 list of questions was very generally answered in the returns which were 

 received from- 1096 different counties: 



1. What fertilizers are iisecl iu your county ? Wliat proportions of svicli fertilizers are 

 farm-yard manures ? home-made composts ? commercial fertilizers ? Are the latter 

 deemed profitable ? 



2. What proportion of hay-fiolds are usually in clover? what iu cultivated grasses, 

 and principally of what kinds? what in native or wild grasses? Is green-manuring 

 ■with clover practiced? If so, is the full crop, the second growth, or only the stubble 

 turned under? Please state the practice and its results in soil-improvement; specific 

 and significant facts desired, rather than general views. 



3. Number of months ia the year in which domestic animals are fed exclusively ? 

 Number of months in which partial feeding supplements pasturage? and what are the 

 principal kinds of forage used, and proportions of each? Is grain fed to animals? If 

 so, when, how liberally, and to what kinds of stock ? What proportion of your corn- 

 crop is consumed in the county ? 



4. What is the cost per head, in cash-value, of forage, for wintering horses ? milch 

 cows? sheep? What is your estimate of the average value of each of these classes 

 of stock in autumn? in the spring? Is there an average increase of weight during the 

 winter, or decrease? and how much of either? 



