MONTHLY REPORT. 



DEPART:»fENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



Statistical Bivimon, March 10, 1870. 

 Sm : I herewith report for publication statistics showing the relative 

 numoer and prices of farm stock, in February, as compared with returns 

 made in February of last year, with extracts from letters of regular and 

 special correspondents ; together with original papers on the following 

 subjects : Beet sugar in Europe and in Wisconsin ; a New Hampshire 

 farm; tax on farmers as produce brokers; ramie ; the Colorado grasshop- 

 per ; tests of department seeds ; agriculture in Lane County, Oregon ; 

 premium crops in New York ; European agricultural statistics ; water 

 for teams ; grain in Northern Euroi)e ; facts from various sources ; and 

 meteorological tables. 



Eespectfully, «-:- _ 



.,,^f%#^GE, 

 Z^^-"^^' ^a^tician. 

 Hon. Horace C apron, /^/^ /? '1 



Commissioner. /^/ ^ A ^i-^\ 



m^mm 



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RELATIVE NUMBERS AND PRICE&v(Jp FARM 'STJ0CK. 



"'■ ■■ ', ". ■ ' ■ : y 

 The returns of February, 1870, indicate a very slight increase of horses 



in the eastern and middle States, an advance of live i)er cent, in the 



Ohio Valley, thirteen per cent, ingrowing States west of the Mississippi, 



and eight per cent, in the c^tt^jn Suites. A slight increase in the number 



of mules is noted in nearly all of the States, most noticeable in Alabama, 



Mississippi, and Arkansas, and in Kansas and Nebraska. 



The number of cattle are gradually augmenting, though not in equal 

 proportion or in all the States. In the following States returns indicate 

 a slight falling oft' from last year : Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Kentucky, 

 niiuois, Indiana, and Ohio. The States beyond the Mississippi show 

 the largest relative increase. 



The swine, mostly pigs and store hogs, appear to be somewhat reduced 

 in numbers in all the New England States except Massachusetts, in 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 

 Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and 

 Michigan. An increase of twenty-one per cent, is indicated in Kansas, 

 and a considerable increase is shown in Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, 

 California, and Oregon. On the whole, the supply of young swine is 

 scarcely equal to the wants of our increasing i^opulation. 



Sheep have increased in numbers largely in California, considerably in 

 Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas, and to some extent in Nebraska. A 

 slight decline is indicated in most of the other States, not sufficient to 

 reduce materially the aggregate numbers. 



The prices of horses and mules have increased in some of the southern 

 States ; swine have fully maintained last year's rates, and the tendency 

 in prices of sheep is upward. Cattle are somewhat lower in price than 

 last year in most of the Stiites, but cows are scarcely affected by the 

 decline. 



