410 



EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Had the winter been propitious there might still have been a good 

 crop. South of the latitude of 40° there was little protection by snow, 

 temperature was variable, occasional snows disappeared and sheets of 

 i(;e covered the level or low surfaces, and freezes succeeded thaws in 

 later winter, resulting in the destruction of the plants to a degree almost 

 unprecedented. The April report was very unfavorable, yet not so 

 unpromising as that of May, as the amount of damage could not be 

 determined so early. It not unfrequently happens that improvement 

 follows if the roots are less injured than the blackened blades indicate, 

 and April weather proves favorable. In this instance the breaking of 

 the roots was worse than ai)pearances indicated, yet the returns were in- 

 terpreted to mean an apparent injury of 26 -per cent. It was apparent 

 in May that the loss would be still greater. A reduction of 149,000,000 

 bushels was reported as early as the 1st of June, and a probable vield 

 of 207,000,000 bushels, which is less by 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 than 

 the final estimates of total product. 



The first report of spring wheat, June 1, was more favorable, indi- 

 catiug a product of 153,000,000 bushels. The occurrence of extreme 

 heat in midsummer reduced this expectation to the extent of 8,000,000 

 bushels, notwithstanding a considerable increase in Dakota due to the 

 revelation of an increase of acreage beyond previous calculation in 1884. 



The California crop, so uniformly overestimated in local reports year 

 after year, makes this year a product of little more than 26,000,000 

 bushels, or two-thirds of the quantity reported in local estimates. 



The result as given below shows a decline of 30 i^er cent, from the 

 aggregate of last year, a reduction in harvested acres of more than 

 5,000,000, and a value increased from 65.7 cents per bushel to 77.1 cents. 



The following statement gives the details by States : 



