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turning their attention to stock raising, for which our county is eminently adapted. Corn 
~heat, rye, oats, potatoes, grass, and orchards are rapidly taking the place of the former 
pps, and our prairies being filled with cattle and mules, which will be more profitable. 
‘Our Cole county correspondent says: 
The old settlers grow mostly-corn, which must be fed on the farm if made profitable, for 
only such as are within five miles of a shipping point can net 50 cents per bushel when the 
price in St. Louis is $1 per bushel. Eastern people and the Germans pursue a more varied 
husbandry, raising small grain for market, which finds ready sale at remunerative prices. 
The large merchant mills along the line of the Pacific railroad are eagerly buying up all the 
wheat and rye to supply their milling capacities. Peaches, apples, and small fruits are 
becoming articles of freight west into Kansas, where all that can be shipped find a ready 
market. Much attention is also being given to grapes, which will in a few years form a 
considerable item of our produce and trade westward. Hemp is a profitable crop in the rich 
bottoms, but labor for its cultivation is scarce. 
Shelby county : 
Our principal crop is corn, timothy, and Hungarian grass. We raise and feed stock to 
get our money back. Our lands will yield 35 bushels of corn and from one to one and half 
tons of hay per acre, the corn selling at 30 to 60 cents per bushel, the hay $6 to $8 per ton. 
Scotland county : | 
Our farmers are giving the most attention to the hay crop, raising only sufficient grain for 
their stock. Taking the prices of the past few years as a standard, the profits of stock-raising 
far exceed those of any other branch of farming. 
Cooper county : 
Wheat is the great staple of this county. The soil being of a porous nature prevents the 
wheat from freezing out in winter. The average is about 20 bushels per acre. It costs 
about 75 cents to raise a bushel of wheat, worth $2 50 per bushel; profit per acre $30 to 
$40. Good wheat land is worth $40 to $50 per acre. So you see wheat is the most profit- 
able crop. 
De Kalb county : 
Wheat is the surest and most profitable crop. Average of wheat about 25 bushels per 
acre; corn, 40 bushels; oats, 35 bushels. 
Phelps county : 
Until within a few years the principal crops were corn and its concentration, pork; but 
lately there has been more attention paid to the culture of wheat, and it bids fair to be of 
much importance, as we are having mills to convert it into flour and railroads to export it. 
Corn will yield 25 to 50 bushels per acre in an ordinary season, worth 50 cents to $1 per 
bushel. Wheat in one instance the past season yielded 27 bushels per acre, but the average 
is not much above one-half that amount, worth the present season $2 to $2 30 per bushel. 
La Fayette county : | 
Hemp is the special product, averaging about 600 tons annually. It is baled in the rough 
and sold at river points to hacklers and shippers at from $100 to $200 per ton. Flax does 
well, but is not raised extensively. Corn is next in importance, returning with very little 
labor from 40 to 80 bushels per acre. The hoe is never used. With eastern cultivation 100 
bushels and upwards has been the yield. It is always a sure crop, and sells at from 30 to 
60 cents per bushel. Wheat has been heretofore considered a doubtful crop, owing to the 
light quality of the soil allowing it to freeze out ; this is obviated by sowing on rough ground 
or by drilling. But on newly broken ground the first three crops are certain; the second and 
third generally the best. This season, on both old and new land, the crop is very abundant, 
_and has been good for the last three years. 
In Lawrence profits are estimated as follows: Corn, $8 50 per acre; wheat, $10; 
oats, $12; Moniteau wheat, $15 to $20 per acre. The average yield in St. 
Louis county is given as follows: 15 bushels of wheat, 50 bushels of corn, 60 
bushels of potatoes, 1 ton of hay. . 
Cotton is cultivated to some extent in some of the southern counties, but is 
not a certain crop, nor upon the whole as profitable as other branches of farm- 
ing. Hop culture is receiving some attention in Gentry and a few other coun- 
ties, the soil and climate being thought favorable. 
5. Of the varieties of wheat sown in the State, white and red Mediterranean, 
red and white May, Walker, blue-stem, Golden chaff, Tappahannock, white 
rock, goose, Canada club, and tea are the most prominent in the several coun- 
ties; the Mediterranean, early May, blue-stem, and Walker being generally 
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