MONTHLY REPORT. 



NEV/ '' 

 BOTA 



gar: 



Depabtjient of Agriculture, 



Statistical Division, January 21, 1871. 

 Sir : I herewith report for iniblication a statement of the yield and 

 home prices of farm products, tabulated and condensed from the Janu- 

 ary statistical returns of county correspondents, with notes upon cer- 

 tain crops, and extracts from correspondence. I also submit a paper by 

 the Botanist, on American Desert Flora, memoranda upon the culti- 

 vation of the Plains, and recent scientific notes bearing upon rural econ- 

 omy, with items from various sources, and monthly- meteorological tables. 



J. E. BODGE^ statistician. 

 Hon. Horace Capron, Commissioner. 



YIELD AND HOME PEICES OF FAEM PEODUCTS. 



Tlie January circular inquires the yield per acre in each county, of 

 the principal products of the farm, and also the average prices obtained 

 by farmers in home markets. 



yield. 



The most noticeable feature in the returns is th^ uniformly high rate of 



yield of corn, as compared ^yith that of 1809, as also with the average of 



a series of years.. The iucreavse over 1869 in the northern half of Xew 



England appears to have been at least five bushels per acre, while the 



southern half, in consequence of severe drought, shows a small decrease. 



The Middle States present an increase of nearly five bushels per acre. 



Virginia and the Carolinas suffered severely from drought, and report 



a reduced yield. The Gulf States have a better crop than last year, the 



advance ranging from one to six bushels per acre. The States of the 



Mississippi and Ohio valleys, with the exception of Iowa, present higher 



figures than last year. The iucrease is marked in Illinois, the yield 



having advanced from 23.2 to 35.2, a difiereuce of 12 bushels per acre, 



or fully 75,000,000 bushels ; yet the ditference is due less to the liberal 



^ yield of 1870 than to the i^oor crop of 1869. Kansas shows a reduction 



'from the remarkable yield of the previous seasons. The production of 



f the Pacific Coast is larger than that of 1869. The yield of the principal 



! corn States is stated as follows : 



--> Ohio, 39 bushels ; Indiana, 39.5 ; Michigan, 37 ; Wisconsin, 38 ; Min- 

 " nesota, 33 ; Iowa, 32 ; Illinois, 35.2 ; Missouri, 31.4 : Kansas, 28 j Ne- 

 - braska, 29.9 ; Arkansas, 31.8 ; Tennessee, 25.8; Kentucky, 32.1. The 

 largest reported yield is that of Vermont, 39.6 bushels. New York is 

 placed at 34 bushels, New Jersey 33, and Pennsylvania 35,8. The 

 range in the cotton States is from 8.9 in South Carolina, 26.5 in Texas, 

 to 31.8 in Arkansas. j •-*/ CO C^ ''^j 



