MONTHLY REPORT, 



Department of Agriculture, 



Statistical Division, December 21, 1872. 



Sir : I herewith present for publication a digest of returns of correspond- 

 ence, showing the average yield per acre and price of each principal 

 crop in the counties of the several States, with a statement of the con- 

 dition and qualtity of certain farm crops ; also a record of prices of farm 

 products in the principal cities, and current statistical data, and the re- 

 sults of investigations in the several divisions of the Department, 

 liespectfully, 



J. E. DODCxE, 

 ^ Statistician. 



Hon .Frederick Watts, 



Commissioner. 



AVERAGE YIELD AND HOME PRICE OF FARM CROPS. 



Yield per acre. — The average yield of corn per acre, as reported by 

 correspondents, stands highest in Iowa, 40.8 bushels, the Illinois aver- 

 age being hj9.G, that of Indiana 39.8, and of Ohio 39.5. Tlie average of 

 the States of the fortieth paralled is within a fraction of 40 bushels, 

 those of Pennsylvania and Nebraska being 39 bushels, and that of New 

 Jersey 39.5 bushels. New England, with her garden-patches of corn, re- 

 turns 31 bushels for Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 32.2 for Connec- 

 ticut, 36.1 for Maine, and 38.2 for New Hampshire. In New York thd 

 average presented is 37.5. Texas makes the highest southern average, 

 28.5 bushels, declining to 24.3 in Arkansas, and 24 in Tennessee, and to 

 17.5 in Mississippi, to 13 in Georgia ; the lowest average being 9.6 in 

 Florida. 



The highest wheat returns are those of Minnesota, California, and 

 Texas ; the lowest are those of South Carolina, the range being from 6.4 

 to 18.7 bushels per acre. The rate is materially higher in the Gulf coast 

 States than in the Southern Atlantic States, increasing from Georgia 

 westward. 



The rate of yield for rye stands lowest in South Carolina, and highest 

 in California, the range being from 6.2 bushels to 29.1 bushels. A ref- 

 erence to the tables will show the variation in these averages, which 

 are in most cases higher than those of wheat. 



The highest average for oats is 40 bushels for Nebraska ; the lowest 

 is 8 bushels for South Carolina. Averages ranging from 40 down to 30 

 bushels come in the following order : Nebraska, Iowa, California, Min- 

 nesota, Illinois, Ehode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Missouri, Pennsyl- 



