AGRICULTURE. 



The Government of the Netherlands, by a 

 treaty concluded at the Hague, February 25, 



1871, ceded all the Dutch possessions on the 

 coast of Guinea to England. The treaty was 

 not officially published until January 20, 1872. 

 The ceremony of the transfer took place on 

 April 6, 1872. 



The French have abandoned the three sta- 

 tions of Grand Bassein, Assinee, and Dabou, 

 retaining on the Gaboon only a coaling-sta- 

 tion ; and evacuated, in accordance with a 

 treaty concluded in January, 1871, with the 

 chieftain of Sat-Dior, the district of Layor, 

 which had been annexed by General Faid- 

 herbe. They now have possession of the 

 Senegal only as far as Medine (250 lieues), the 

 small province of Diander, with the towns of 

 Rafisque, Dakar, and the island of Gorge, the 

 stations of Joal and Portudal, on the coast be- 

 low Goree, as well as the rivers Salum, Caza- 

 manoe, Rio Nunez, Rio Pongo, andMellacoree. 



By a proclamation of the Governor of the 

 Cape Colony, dated October 27, 1871, the 

 newly-discovered diamond-fields on the lower 

 Yaal, and in the adjacent territory of the 

 Griqua chieftain Waterboer, were incorporated 

 with the Cape Colony. The official occupa- 

 tion of the country took place on November 

 17, 1871. The new territory has received the 

 name of Griqualand West, and is divided into 

 the three districts of Priel, Griquatown, and 

 Kligsdrift. (A full account of the annexation 

 of this territory, and a map showing the boun- 

 daries of the territory and of the three dis- 

 tricts, are given in " Correspondence respecting 

 the affairs of the Cape of Good Hope." Pre- 

 sented to Parliament, London, 1871.) The 

 population of Griqualand was, in March, 1872, 

 estimated at 50,000. 



The frontier line in dispute between the 

 Transvaal Republic and the Bechuana tribes 

 in the west was determined by the Governor 

 of Natal, as arbitrator, on October 17, 1871. 



AGRICULTURE. We begin as usual with 

 our approximate estimate of the crops of 1872. 

 It is to be regretted that at a time when so 

 much depends upon promptness and enter- 

 prise, in gathering and publishing returns of 

 all our varied industries, private energy should 

 so far outstrip public enterprise in the collec- 

 tion of our agricultural statistics, and that we 

 should obtain the agricultural reports of not 

 only the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, but of most of the kingdoms of Europe, 

 months before our own are accessible. It is 

 possible that no way can be devised to collect 

 them more promptly over such a widely-ex- 

 tended territory, but at least a strenuous ef- 

 fort should be made to do so. The spring of 



1872, following a severe winter, though one of 

 very little snow, and but moderate rains, was 

 late, cold, and backward, and serious fears 

 were entertained lest the crops, especially of 

 fruits, winter wheat, and grass, had been de- 

 stroyed, partially or wholly, by the cold, and 

 winter drought. These fears, happily, proved 



groundless. The summer was one of abundant 

 rains and of intense heat, the autumn mild 

 and pleasant, and with but slight frosts till so 

 late a period that the crops were not injured. 

 Even in sections so elevated as to make the 

 cultivation of Indian-corn and of grapes ex- 

 tremely hazardous, both ripened completely, 

 as, for" instance, in the foot-hills of the Rocky- 

 Mountain region. Most of the crops were 

 somewhat larger than in 1871, though gener- 

 ally below those of 1870. The prevalence of 

 the horse-disease, in October, November, and 

 December, did not greatly affect the gathering 

 of the crops, though it interfered seriously 

 with the efforts of the farmers to put them 

 promptly upon the market. This was espe- 

 cially the case with the cotton and corn crops. 



The Wheat crop was generally very good. 

 In California, and, indeed, throughout the Pa- 

 cific slope, it was enormous, an increase of fully 

 seventy-five per cent, on that of the previ- 

 ous year, and aggregated above 30,000,000 

 bushels. Over 9,000,000 bushels had been 

 exported before December 1st. All that line 

 of States lying west of the Mississippi River 

 had largely increased their production of 

 wheat, the increase being not less than 15,- 

 000,000 bushels. The Southern States had 

 added fifty per cent, to their crop. New 

 York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, 

 and Maryland, on the other hand, had fallen 

 off nearly thirty-five per cent. The aggregate 

 crop for 1872 will not prove less than 245,- 

 000,000 bushels, and may reach 250,000,000. 



There was also a good crop of Indian-corn, 

 fully equal to that of 1870, which was then the 

 largest ever raised. The only States where it 

 was below the average were Rhode Island, 

 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Wis- 

 consin, and Minnesota, only the last two being 

 States where it is a very important crop, and 

 in both these the falling off was very small. 

 On the other hand, most of the Southern 

 States were from twenty to thirty-five per 

 cent, above the average, and most of the West- 

 ern States from five to twenty per cent, above. 

 California's crop was twenty-seven per cent, 

 above the average. The aggregate is not be- 

 low 1,120,000,000 bushels, and the quality is 

 much above the average, while the corn-fodder 

 was excellent. 



The Eye crop was about two per cent. 

 less than the previous year, rather from de- 

 creased acreage than from diminished yield to 

 the acre. In Kentucky, Georgia, Texas, Min- 

 nesota, South Carolina, and California, the 

 production was largely in excess of that of for- 

 mer years ; while in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Mis- 

 sissippi, there was a decided falling off. The 

 aggregate crop was probably about 15,000,000 

 bushels. 



Oats were a moderate increase on the crop 

 of 1871, the aggregate being about 265,000,000 

 bushels. All the States west of the Missis- 

 sippi, as well as Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, 



