REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 21 
In the recording and tabulation of foreign statistics, compiled from 
the data supplied by those governments and by their agricultural 
societies ; Z 
In supplying the demand for information from members of Congress, 
boards of trade, and persons interested in agriculture, manufactures, and 
commerce ; 
In recording the prices of farm products and animals in the leading 
markets of the United States; 
Also, in publishing a monthly report of the crops of the whole coun- 
try, giving a detailed statement each month of acreage, condition, and 
quality of each crop, thereby reaching thousands of persons who 
otherwise would have to depend upon unreliable sources for such in- 
formation; and I can only regret that the limited amount of the appropria- 
tion for statistical purposes does not permit a more extended report of 
labor, wages, and other matters of interest to agriculturists and to the 
whole country. 
The report of the crops for the present year presents no material 
change from the abundant crop of 1877, which has been equaled, and 
in some cases surpassed, by the crops of this year. © 
The acreage in corn was slightly increased, while the condition during 
the growing season was not quite as favorable. Still the crop this 
year will be one of the largest ever grown, and will, in the aggregate, 
equal its predecessor of 1877. This is the more remarkable, as this is 
the fourth of an unbroken series of large crops. 
The wheat crop of the present year promised in the spring to bé 
unusually large. The winter had been favorable, the acreage largely 
increased, and the growing condition all that could be desired, but the 
“hot wave” of July brought disaster to the crop in certain portions of 
those States where spring wheat is sown, and in which the grain was in 
that certain condition of growth rendering it liable to be affected by the 
simoom, which lasted three days, and ruined the hopes of thousands. 
The States that produeed the heaviest yield last year produced the 
lightest this; yet, in a general view, it is to be considered that in the 
States north, and bordering on the Ohio River, in Kansas, Nebraska, 
and California, there are large yields reported, larger considerably than 
last year, so that the crop of this year may be safely estimated at twenty- 
five millions of bushels greater than that of 1877. 
The other grain crops have been generally good, presenting no new 
feature this year. The only crop which shows a material decline is the 
potato crop, which is from twenty to twenty-five per cent. less than that 
of last year. This great declinewas owing tothe extreme heat of July 
and the drought of August. 
The cotton crop, so important in its bearing on the industries of the 
world, has been favored during all the stages of its growth. The acre- 
age was slightly increased—about 2per cent. The absence of insect 
injuries was almost universal, only small portions of Mississippi, Ala 
