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EOS Sedat _ REPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. eset oe Shane 
mas ie ; 
| The area of cotton was slightly increased, equivalent to about 1 per’ ;: 
cent. -Condition was high in Juneand July until the effects of 
drought began to be manifest. Thecrop was kept in unusually clean 
cultivation with a stand better than the average. On the lst of Au- 
_ gust a decline of four points was apparent. In the eastern portion 
of the belt there had generally been an excess of moisture, in some 
places damaging floods, and the ‘‘ weed” was large and sappy, caus- 
ing rust and fall of forms under the high temperature following. 
_ In Texas drought began to be injurious. Yet up to this date the 
- average of condition was comparatively high. A heavy decline fol- 
lowed. The following comparison of condition will show the course 
of each season: 
Years. June. | July. | August. |September.} October. 
PRM Me Re ee Roe ctcts crear pan air Wy ule ao sets eiee baal 88.7 86.1 81.3 82.1 79.3 
Sea p mente | ee Pe yrs eas Rabat bata osg oPadlelaloolalhare Dao 96.9 96.9 03.3 82.8 76.5 
J 
In 1886 the decline was less than 10 points; in 1887 it was more 
than 20, almost wholly in August and September. The State esti- 
mates of yield per acre made 33.8 hundredths of a bale, against 36 
hundredths in 1886. The estimates of yield per acre in November 
averaged 164 pounds, against 168 the previous year. On the basis of 
these results a crop of 6,306,150 bales was indicated in the November 
report. This was a material decline from earlier expectation, when 
condition stood nearly at the standard of perfect healthfulness and 
good growth; yet it was in accordance with the returns of corre- 
spondents at that stage of the harvest, two months before its close. It 
was intimated in November that the early growth and stamina of 
the plant might carry the yield beyond the logical results of the de- 
ee concen reported by our correspondents. This proved to 
e the case; but the largest factor of increased product was the late 
occurrence of killing frost and the fine season for maturing and 
icking, which brought the aggregate nearly up to the total of the 
argest crop ever produced—that of 1882, which was nearly 7,000,000 
bales. 
The season has not been favorable fora large crop of hay. It was: 
considerably reduced in the region affected by the drought, causing 
a heavy advance in farm prices, and increasing about $2 per ton the 
‘general average of the country. 
The season has been peculiarly unfavorable for the Northern potato 
crop. \ With an area larger than that of the previous crops, the yield 
is the smallest for many years. The yield averaged slightly above 
56 bushels per acre, indicating a crop of about 134,000,000 bushels. 
While condition was lowest in the West throughout the growing sea- 
son, the loss from rotting near the time of harvest was greater in the 
East, Maine especially. 
There was a fair crop of sweet potatoes, which is a very important 
edible crop of the South, possibly aggregating 40,000,000 bushels, 
which is an increase of nearly 25 per cent. since 1880. It is of course 
limited in area, while the round potato, Solanum tuberosum, is a 
product of every State and Territory, either as a winter or summer 
crop. 
It has been a poor year for orchard fruits, which have been rela- 
tively high in price during the season. In parts of Connecticut a 
AG 87 34 
