‘ 2 
rive ‘ 7 
e i 
REPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 527 
in several Western States, an absence of rain-fall being indicated in 
the very heart of the corn-growing belt. As the season advanced 
the drought became alarming. It was everywhere a matter of sur- 
prise, however, that corn maintained so well its condition without 
rain. In many a field that was planted early, after thorough prepa- 
ration with suitable subsequent cultivation, growth continued and a 
fine crop was matured, lessthan a good season would have made, but 
a yield even greater than the average of ordinary cultivation. 
The drought was more limited in area than in 1881. It was worst 
in the iower elevations of the great interior valleys. It was severe 
in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Hhnois, part of Iowa, Missouri, and 
Kansas. Southern Wisconsin and Michigan were not exempt, and 
southeastern Minnesota was touched slightly. Other parts of Min- 
nesota and Dakota, and Nebraska in less degree, had seasonable rain- 
fall and high condition. In the Southwest, also, the drought was 
rotracted, yet corn matured before its most destructive effects could 
e produced. 
On the Atlantic coast there was generally a good supply of moist- 
ure, at certain points in excess, and in small districts it was so un- 
equally distributed as to cause injury, attributed by some to drought 
and by others to excess of moisture followed by high temperature. 
The result of these changing conditions was very disappointing, 
raising the hopes of cultivators, then suddenly depressing,them, per- 
haps unduly, by the suddenness and severity of the decline. This 
will be best shown, as to corn and cotton especially, in the following 
general monthly averages of condition of several crops: 
——_* 
Months. Corn. 
f T | 
Winter | Spring | 
> sa 
aaa eae Potatoes.| Tobacco. 
Oats. Barley. | Cotton. 
| 
| 
| 
Fa 
SERS 
stmc0 
The result of the year’s harvest, though slightly deficient, is an am- 
ple supply for all wants, with increased value of corn, potatoes, and 
hay due to diminished production, and a very slight advance in oats, 
while other grain remains within a point or two of the prices current 
a year ago. 
The acreage of corn is diminished by eliminating over 5,000,000 
acres of worthless or abandoned area, and on this reduced area a 
yield of only 20.1 bushels per acre is recorded. Counting the origi- 
nal area, as 1s usually done, without allowances for areas of absolute 
failure, the average yield would be 18.7 bushels per acre, about the 
Same asin 188i. As the Atlantic coast States make better returns 
than in 1881, it follows that in extent and intensity the drought of 
this season is scarcely equaled by any previous infliction. This can 
only be taken as a general average, some localities having better and 
others worse yields than in 1881. 
It has been shown, as often before, that the best cultivation is at+ 
tended with the least loss in dry seasons; and also that the areas that 
are tile-drained have produced larger yields than those undrained, 
from a better aeration of the soil and superior facilities for obtain- 
ing moisture from the subsoil. 
