AGRICULTURE. 



greater breadth sown. Sorghum has also in- 

 creased in quantity in Illinois, the crop being 

 one-quarter more than in 1862. The amount 

 of cotton raised in the States north of the 

 Ohio River is nearly 40 per cent, greater than 

 in 1862. There has been a serious falling off 

 in the quantity of root crops in all the States 

 except Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Illi- 

 nois, and West Virginia. The entire diminu- 

 tion of these crops is about 15 per cent. In 

 the Eastern and Middle States the yield of 

 apples, peaches, and pears was large, the 

 markets being for a time glutted with peaches ; 

 but in the "Western and Northwestern States 

 the great frosts of the winter of 1863-'4 de- 

 stroyed a large proportion of the fruit trees, 

 and there was a scarcity of peaches and apples. 

 The stock of apples in the market was so 

 greatly reduced by exportation and the short- 

 ness of the crop, that in January, 1865, ap- 

 ples of ordinary quality brought from 5.50 

 to $8 per barrel at wholesale. The grape 

 crop was fully up to the average, and larger 

 quantities than usual -were absorbed in the 

 manufacture of -wine. This has become a spe- 

 ciality at several points on the Hudson River, 

 on the islands in and near Sandusky Bay, 

 Lake Erie, in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 along the Missouri and Osaie Rivers in Mis- 

 souri, and in California. The production of 

 wine in California has reached an extent and 

 excellence which enables the wine-growers of 

 that State to enter into successful competition 

 with the great vineyards of Europe, and it is 

 rapidly increasing. 



There has been a heavy reduction in the 

 number of swine fattened for market during 

 the year, owing mainly to the scarcity of corn 

 in 1863-'4. This reduction amounts probably 

 to nearly 40 per cent. The receipt of live hogs 

 in Xew York in 1862 was 1,098,712 ; in 1863, 

 1,096.773 ; in 1864, only 657,09-2. The falling 

 off in the exports of pork from Xew York as 

 compared -with those of 1863, -was 60,000 bar- 

 rels, or one-third; of cut meats, 88,000,000 

 pounds, or very nearly one-half; and of lard, 

 77,000,000 pounds, or about two-thirds. In 

 Cincinnati and Chicago the amount of pork 

 packed -was larger than in 1863, but this was 

 at the expense of the smaller packing points. 

 The number of hogs packed in the packing 

 season of 1863-'4 -was 3.389,427. The season 

 of 1864-'5 is not yet (January, 1865) closed, 

 but it is estimated that the number packed 

 will be not far from 2,500,000. The number 

 of swine in stock in 1864 in the loyal States, 

 is estimated by the Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture to have been 16,140,712, a reduction of 

 nearly a million since 1859. Of other farm 

 stock, the number, according to his careful and 

 reliable estimates, were as follows: Horses, 

 4,049,142; mules, 280,847; bulls and -working 

 cattle, 7,965,439; cows, 6,066,748; sheep, 24. - 

 346,391. The only considerable increase in 

 live stock since 1859 (the year reported in the 

 Census of 1860) is in sheep. The number of 



horses, mules, and swine has slightly decreased 

 from the great demand of the war ; the num- 

 ber of working cattle and cows has remained 

 nearly stationary from the same cause, but the 

 number of sheep has increased 9,242,119, The 

 clip of wool for the year, it is thought, will 

 not fall much short of 100,000,000 pounds, 

 while the consumption is about 150,000,000 

 pounds. The climate of California is found 

 well adapted to -wool growing, and the sheep 

 are sheared twice a year there. The fall clip, 

 the growth of the summer months, is short, 

 dry, and brittle, and of inferior quality, answer- 

 ing to the low-priced India "wools. Kansas 

 and Xebraska, Central Illinois, and Texas are 

 also excellent climates for wool growing, and 

 the present price of wool has greatly developed 

 the production of that staple. 



The production of molasses and sugar from 

 the sorghum has increased during the year. 

 The syrup or molasses is now refined on a large 

 scale at Chicago and Cincinnati, and the result 

 is very satisfactory; the unpleasant taste which 

 had proved a serious objection to its use being 

 removed by the refining process, and a syrup 

 resulting which differs but little from the best 

 sugar-house syrups of Stuarts, Woolsey, and 

 other refiners. There seems to be a difficulty 

 in making sugar from most of the sorghum 

 molasses, probably from the fact that the cane 

 is seldom perfectly matured when crushed. 

 Small quantities of fair sugar have been pro- 

 duced, but for the most part it is used only in 

 the form of molasses or syrup. Within the 

 past two years the attempt has been made on 

 a large scale in Illinois to cultivate the sugar- 

 beet for the production of sugar. It is yet too 

 early to pronounce definitely on the success of 

 the enterprise, but it promises fairly. Four 

 hundred and eighty thousand tons, one-sixth 

 of all the sugar used in the world, is now pro- 

 duced from the sugar-beet, mainly in France 

 and its colonies, and there seems no good 

 reason why we should not produce it as suc- 

 cessfully as other nations. The amount of su- 

 gar produced from the maple shows a consider- 

 able increase over previous years, the season 

 having been a favorable one, and the high 

 prices of sugars creating an unusual demand 

 for it. 



Of leguminous plants (peas and beans) the 

 crop is somewhat less than in 1863, the falling 

 off being mainly in peas, the bean crop being 

 nearly or quite an average one. This crop has 

 greatly increased in importance from the large 

 army demand for it. The production of butter 

 and cheese is nearly identical with that of 1863, 

 but owing to the increased export demand and 

 the depreciation of the currency, remarkably 

 high prices have ruled for all dairy products. 



The following tables give the production of 

 the principal staple agricultural products in 

 each of the loyal States and Territories in 1864, 

 as compared with the returns of 1862 and 1863. 

 They are from the valuable bi-monthly reports 

 of the Agricultural Department 



