10 



AGRICULTURE. 



She then published her experiences in Germany 

 in a number of articles in the Revue des Deux 

 Mondes and in the Revue independante (1847), 

 and after the Revolution of 1848 appeared as a 

 political writer. Among her works of this class 

 best known are " Lettres r^publicaines " (1848), 

 in which she severely criticises the state of 

 affairs under the government of Louis Philippe, 

 and the "Histoire de la Revolution de 1848" 

 (3 vols.,. 1851-'53; third edition, 1869), which 

 shows the people and the events of that time 

 in a most favorable light. A different kind of 

 Avork is her " Esquisses morales et politiques " 

 (1849; third edition, 1859), which is a sort of 

 ethical hand-book in the form of maxims and 

 aphorisms in the style of the "Maximes" of 

 Rochefoucauld, and gives short and good ad- 

 vice on the different affairs of life, on the con- 

 flict of morality with the passions, and the 

 questions of the age, and which is certainly to 

 be regarded as her best work. She also pub- 

 lished "Trois Journees de la Vie de Marie 

 Stuart " (1856), "Florence et Turin" (1862), 

 and "Dante et Goethe" (1866). Her daughter 

 Cosima, the fruit of a connection with Franz 

 Liszt, was married first to Hans von Billow, 

 and subsequently to Richard Wagner. Her 

 biography was written by Pommerin (1868). 



AGRICULTURE. The following statements 

 respecting the crops of the United States for 

 1876 embody the latest reports of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture : 



Corn. The returns of November make the 

 corn-crop only 2 per cent, short of the great 

 crop of last year, and fully 50 per cent, greater 

 than the crop of 1874. The aggregate is 1,295,- 

 000,000 bushels. Less than 1 per cent, of the 

 crop is raised in New England, scarcely 6 in 

 the Middle States, 20 in the Southern, 44 in 

 the Ohio basin, and 29 west of the Mississippi. 



The product of the South is 10,000,000 bushels 

 greater than last year ; that of New England is 

 300,000 greater, and there is less in the Middle 

 and Western States. 



The States of the Ohio basin, seven in num- 

 ber, including Michigan and Wisconsin, in- 

 creased their proportion from 39 per cent, in 

 1850 to 41 in 1860, and since that date con- 

 tinue to advance their proportions, the percent- 

 age being 44 in 1870 and at the present time, 

 notwithstanding the more rapid progress of 

 corn-growing in the States of the Missouri Val- 

 ley. These States Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, 

 Kansas, and Nebraska produced only 7 per 

 cent, in 1850, advancing to 15 in 1860, to 21 in 

 1870, and 28 in 1876. The increase in Kansas 

 has been most rapid of late, nearly equaling in 

 amount in this year the crop of the much more 

 populous State of Missouri. Iowa, as yet, grows 

 more than four-tenths of the crop of this section. 



Illinois is credited with about 250,000,000 

 bushels, and Iowa with 155,000,000. Next in 

 rank are Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas. 

 These six States produce six-tenths of the total 

 product. Tennessee, which once held the 

 highest rank in the country, now stands first 



in the Southern States, followed by Texas, 

 Alabama, and Georgia. 



The extension of this culture westward con- 

 tinues to be rapid. This year the Missouri 

 Valley, together with the western half of the 

 Upper Mississippi, yields two-thirds as much as 

 the area from that river eastward to Pennsyl- 

 vania, including the States on both sides of the 

 Ohio. In quality the crop is superior to its 

 predecessor. 



There has been an increase of area in all sec- 

 tions, aggregating about two million acres, the 

 advance very slight in the Gulf States from 

 Alabama to Louisiana, and scarcely perceptible 

 in the Middle States. It is largest west of the 

 Missouri. Wisconsin shows the heaviest in- 

 crease in the Northwest, and Texas and Georgia 

 in the South. 



Cotton. The returns of November indicat- 

 ed an extremely favorable season for gather- 

 ing cotton, except in some portions of North 

 Carolina. The following is a synopsis: "Frost 

 has injured the top crop in the northern belt, 

 notably in Arkansas. The fibre is cleaner than 

 usual and of superior quality in the southern 

 belt. Drought in the Gulf States, rain-storms 

 in the Carolinas, the boll-worm in the South- 

 west, and the caterpillar in certain locations 

 near the Gulf coast, are chief causes of injury 

 to the crop. The harvest will be completed 

 at a much earlier date than usual. The crop 

 must be smaller than that of last year, however 

 favorable and long the remaining season for 

 gathering. In comparison with the last crop, 

 the percentages of the Atlantic coast States 

 are relatively larger by reason of the poor re- 

 turns of 1875, and smaller in the Southwest 

 from comparison with the remarkable yield of 

 that region. They are as follows : North Caro- 

 lina, 92; South Carolina, 99; Georgia, 110; 

 Florida, 100; Alabama, 77; Mississippi, 78; 

 Louisiana, 83; Texas, 100; Arkansas, 74; Ten- 

 nessee, 101. The average is between 88 and 89." 



Potatoes. As returns for condition, during 

 the latter part of the season, have foreshadowed, 

 the potato-crop, in production, falls not only 

 far below the extraordinary crop of 1875, but 

 considerably below an average crop. Among 

 the causes of diminished yield, drought was 

 the most widespread and effective. During 

 the season for the formation and growth of 

 the tubers, excessively dry weather prevailed, 

 with a few local exceptions, throughout the 

 entire section north of the thirty-sixth parallel 

 and east of the Rocky Mountains, the section 

 in which the potato-crop is mainly grown. 

 The drought was the most severe and pro- 

 tracted in the Middle and Eastern States, ex- 

 cept a northern belt including the greater part 

 of Maine. Within this designated area, also, the 

 beetles east of the Mississippi, and the grass- 

 hoppers west, effected some reduction in locali- 

 ties, though not to a serious extent. Another 

 cause of diminished production is an unusual 

 decrease in acreage, especially in States which 

 grow this crop extensively, amounting to 15 



