AGRICULTURE. 



3 



Norse people in all their past history. It 

 is recognized as one of the most valuable 

 contributions to Scandinavian history ever 

 made. 



AGRICULTURE. Our returns of the crops 

 of 1871 must, as usual, be only an approxima- 

 tion, as the returns to the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment are unusually late, and at the date of 

 our going to press they have not yet published 

 the statistics of 1870 in full. The material is 

 at hand, however, for making our approxima- 

 tions sufficiently clear to answer all practical 

 purposes. The year 1871 was characterized by 

 remarkable meteorological conditions, which 

 materially affected the crops in some sections. 

 The spring was exceptionally late: frosts oc- 

 curring in many sections in the latter part of 

 April, and even into May, while in some parts 

 of New England there was a frost sufficiently 

 severe to do damage to the growing crops as 

 late as June 24th. June had its very marked 

 alternations of hot and cold weather ; July was 

 quite cool throughout, and the rainfall in both 

 months in the Atlantic States was unusually 

 heavy, while in the Northwest the beginnings 

 of the drought, which continued so long, and 

 eventually proved so destructive, were seen 

 during July. August was very hot and moist 

 on the Atlantic slope and in the central belt 

 of Western States, while in the Northwest it 

 was hot and dry; September was cool and 

 dry; and October, though proportionally mild- 

 er in temperature, was equally dry, and the for- 

 est sand prairies of the Northwest were like tin- 

 der, and soon, over large districts, were swept 

 by the devouring flames. The great conflagra- 

 tion at Chicago, on the 8th of October, also ex- 

 erted its influence on the agricultural products 

 of the year, not only in its destruction of very 

 large quantities of grain, but in its blocking the 

 avenues of trade, and preventing the reception 

 and prompt shipping of large quantities of 

 grain to the Atlantic ports. 



Yet, with all these drawbacks, the crops of 

 the year were very nearly of average amount ; 

 some of them a little in excess, and others, 

 though not the most important, rather short. 



The Wheat crop was not quite equal to that 

 of 1870, the Southern wheat-fields suffering 

 from rust, and those of the Northwest from 

 the chinch-bug and the weevil. It is esti- 

 mated in round numbers at 219,500,000 bush- 

 els, or about seven per cent, below the actual 

 crop of last year. 



Indian-corn did not yield quite so much to 

 the acre, and was not of quite so good an 

 average quality in consequence of the drought, 

 and in some places early frosts ; but the acre- 

 age was larger, and the aggregate crop very 

 nearly the same as the previous year, being es- 

 timated at 1,092,000,000 against 1,094,255,000 

 in 1870. 



The Rye crop in 1870 was over-estimated, 

 the actual returns being only 15,473,600, in- 

 stead of 21.125,000, as was supposed. It is al- 

 ways a difficult crop to estimate even approxi- 



mately, as its culture is so much scattered, a 

 few acres here, and another patch perhaps in 

 the next county, or farther off. From the 

 reports the crop appears to be about three per 

 cent, less than in 1870, or not quite fifteen 

 million bushels. 



Oats were about an average crop, cut off 

 partially or wholly in some sections, but yield- 

 ing enormously in others, a yield of ninety-five 

 bushels to the acre being reported in Lafayette 

 County, Wisconsin, and seventy-five bushels 

 in Muscatine County, Iowa. The aggregate 

 may be set down at about 245,000,000 bushels. 



Barley is grown in only twenty-eight 

 States of the Union, and is not increasing 

 largely in acreage even in those ; but the crop 

 of 1871 was about an average, and may fairly 

 be estimated at 26,000,000 bushels. 



The Buckwheat crop was largely overes- 

 timated in 1870, the actual yield being un- 

 der 10,000,000 bushels instead of 16,500,000. 

 In 1871 it was something less than in 

 1870, and probably did not exceed 9,400,000 

 bushels. 



The yield of Potatoes (Solatium tuberosum) 

 is reported slightly larger than in 1870, though 

 there was a decrease in Illinois, Indiana, Michi- 

 gan, Kentucky, and Missouri. An estimate of 

 117,000,000 bushels would not probably be far 

 from the truth. 



The Sweet Potato (Batatus edulis) is grown 

 in twenty-five States, and forms a very im- 

 portant addition to our vegetable supplies for 

 a considerable portion of the year, and its cul- 

 tivation is increasing, a much larger acreage 

 being devoted to it in the seaboard Southern 

 States than before the war. The tubers raised, 

 in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, are 

 much sweeter and more palatable than those 

 grown on Long Island or in the Middle States. 

 The average yearly product is certainly not be- 

 low 50,000,000 bushels (it was 42,000,000 in 

 1860), and the crop of 1871 was very slightly 

 below the average. Considerable quantities 

 of both the sweet and Irish potatoes are 

 brought into our markets early in the season 

 from the Bermuda Islands. 



The Hay crop of 1870 was under-estimated, 

 the actual product being about 24,525,000 tons. 

 In 1871 the aftermath was cut short by the 

 drought in the Northwest, and the same cause 

 so diminished the pasturage that a greater 

 amount would be required, and feeding was 

 commenced earlier. The destructive fires in 

 the Northwest also burned considerable quan- 

 tities in Michigan and Wisconsin. The crop 

 probably reached 22,300,000 tons. 



The production of Bice, which, in 1850 and 

 the ten years which followed, reached its 

 highest point, an average production of over 

 200,000,000 pounds, and which in 1865 had 

 almost ceased to be reckoned among our agri- 

 cultural products, is again increasing and ex- 

 tending, not only in its old region, in South 

 Carolina and Georgia, but in Louisiana, where 

 20,000,000 pounds were grown in 1869. In 



