AGRICULTURE. 



11 



of the States of smallest production being 

 made good by the greater yield and the in- 

 creased average in the Southern States. It 

 was probably between 47,000,000 and 48,000,- 

 000 bushels. 



Hay. This great crop, whose money value 

 exceeds that of any other grown in the coun- 

 try, is estimated at 500,000 tons less than in 

 1OT8, when it approximated 24,000,000 tons; 

 but this deficiency is in a great measure com- 

 pensated by the superior quality of the hay, 

 which is estimated in some States at 20 per 

 cent, better than that of 1872. The value of 

 the hay-crop of 1873 is certainly not less than 

 $445.000,000. 



Tobacco. The crop of 1872 was remarkable 

 in quantity, being considerably the largest 

 raised since 1860, amounting to 342,304,000 

 pounds. That of 1873 is reported as about 

 321.703,700 pounds; but the late returns from 

 California, where it has recently become a 

 very important crop, are so favorable, both as 

 to quality and quantity, that it will not be 

 surprising if the aggregate crop reaches 330,- 

 000,000 pounds. By improved processes of 

 curing, the California tobacco has recently 



been produced of equal quality and delicacy 

 with that grown in the Vuelto Abajo of Cuba. 

 The quality of the New England, and especially 

 of the Connecticut tobacco, which is largely 

 used for cigars, is represented as 33 per cent, 

 better than in 1872. 



Cotton. The actual cotton-crop of 1872 was 

 450,000 bales above the estimate of January 1, 

 1873, amounting to 3,920,000 bales, a heavier 

 crop than any since the war, with possibly a 

 single exception. The crop of 1873 is esti- 

 mated at about 238,000 bales below this, but, 

 owing to the epidemic of yellow fever and 

 other causes, such as the severe frosts in Octo- 

 ber, may not reach 3,500,000 bales. The follow- 

 ing table, taken with some additions from the 

 December (1873) monthly report of the Agri- 

 cultural Department, gives some interesting 

 items concerning the comparative yield of dif- 

 ferent States and different years. It is to be 

 observed that this table gives the yield only in 

 what are known as the cotton States, while 

 that grown in Southern Illinois, Missouri, the 

 Indian Territory, and California an aggre- 

 gate of 25,000 to 30,000 bales or more is not 

 counted : 



In this table one item whioh will excite sur- 

 prise is the small average yield per acre, rang- 

 ing from 126 pounds in the sandy lands of 

 Florida to 221 in the rich and fertile soils of 

 Texas. This it is to bo understood is the 

 nreraye yield of the cotton-lands of these States. 

 The minimum yield is not quite 70 pounds, 

 and the maximum on new and rich lands, 

 where unaffected by storms, caterpillars, boll- 

 worms, or early frosts, is as high as 1,500 to 

 1,800 pounds per acre. At the ruling prices 

 of cotton in the autumn and winter of 1873-'74, 

 thia low average yield would indicate that cot- 

 ton was an unprofitable crop. Another point 

 worthy of notice is the very large amount of 

 Lind in the great cotton States devoted to this 

 crop from one million to one and a half mill- 

 ion acres. It was reported late in the autumn 

 of 1873 that in portions of Alabama and some 

 of the other cotton States, where cotton had 

 been the exclusive crop, and had failed from 

 some one of the many causes which are always 

 li.iMe to affect it, the inhabitants were in a 

 state bordering on starvation, the entire crop, 

 such as it waa, being insufficient to meet the 

 advances made on it while it was growing, to 

 pay for labor and subsistence, and, as it was 



the only crop, nothing being left for the cotton- 

 grower and his family to live on for the winter 

 and spring months. It would certainly be 

 wise to devote a part of the land, time, and 

 labor, to raising crops which would afford food 

 to the family if the cotton fails, as it so often 

 does. Another lesson taught by this suffering 

 is, that it would be far better if a part at least of 

 the cotton-crop could be manufactured where it 

 is grown, and thus a home market provided for 

 the cotton-grower, where ho will not be com- 

 pelled to pay so large a tribute to the cotton- 

 broker, and where there will be a market pro- 

 vided also for corn, grain, and vegetables, which 

 will give an impulse to the cultivation of crops 

 of these. 



Sugar- Cane. The crop is considerably short 

 of last year's report. The whole production 

 will not probably much exceed 112,000 hogs- 

 heads. In some portions of Texas, as well as 

 in the lower counties of Georgia and Alabama 

 and Western Florida, the average in this crop 

 is largely increasing, but there has been a 

 heavy falling off in Louisiana, which, after all, 

 is the principal State concerned in this crop. 

 The production of sugar and syrup from or- 

 ghum seems to bo decreasing. The sugar-cane 



