40 



AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



sympathize \vith the prevalent low rates of farm products, but fali- 

 grown horses, iu great dcmaml for service in enlarging the cultivated 

 area, bring higher prices than last year. Horses are also higher in 

 California and Oregon. 



A comparison vvith last year, in the States named, for horses of the 

 several ages, will show substantially the differing rates and recent 

 changes in various sections of the country. The rise in New Jersey 

 shows that depreciation is not uniform in the Northern Atlantic States : 



Mules. — The prices of working-mules have advanced throughout the 

 Middle and Southern States, except that the high rates in New Jersey 

 are not sustained, though the average is still higher than in any other 

 State. The average in Texas has advanced from $87.60 to $75.73. 

 Growing mules in Kentucky are held at an advance, while the rate for 

 full-grown is unchanged, at $112.15. A slight advance is seen in Indi- 

 ana, Illinois, and Minnesota, and a small decline in Wisconsin, Iowa, 

 Missouri, and Kansas. The stock of Nebraska is inadequate to the 

 wants of agriculture, and commands advanced rates. 



Mllch cows. — It w^as stated, a year ago, that the prices of neat stock 

 were lower than for seven years, except in Texas, where appreciation 

 is resulting from the heavy drain upon the stock-reserves by drovers, 

 until the present year, the rates for which are declining. In 1869 the 

 prices of cows attained their highest limit, since which date the tend- 

 ency has been downward. There has been an arrest in this movement 

 in some portions of the country. In Maine, New Hampshire, and Ver- 

 mont, particularly in the first-named State, where cattle were sacrificed 

 last season on account of the partial failure of the hay crop, prices 

 liave rallied with the increase of forage. There has been an upward 

 tendency in this kind of stock in the cotton States, which keeps pace 

 with the movements toward improvement in quality and enlargement 

 of the dairy interest. A few examples Avill show the direction and ex- 

 tent of these changes during the past eight years : 



