428 



ILLINOIS. 



ue was $22,738,881. The total winter wheat 

 crop of 1878, notwithstanding the increased 

 acreage, was not more than 2 per cent, greater 

 than in 1877. In 1877 the winter wheat crop 

 was 29,510,032 bushels; in 1878, 30,013,147, 

 an increase of 503,115 bushels in favor of 1878. 

 Tiie average yield per acre in 1877 was 17 bush- 

 els, against about 15 bushels in 1878. The value 

 of the 1877 crop of 29,510,032 bushels at the 

 time of harvest was $1.15 per bushel, making 

 $34,900,824. The crop of 30,013,147 bushels 

 of 1878 was valued at 80 cents per bushel, mak- 

 ing $23,870,257. The difference in value in 

 favor of tlie former (1877) crop when compared 

 with the value of the latter (1878) crop, is over 

 eleven millions of dollars ($11,090,567). The 

 acreage of spring wheat was 297,912, an in- 

 crease of 43,454 acres, as compared with the 

 previous year's area of 248,458 acres. The 

 average yield per acre, 13 J bushels, was larger 

 than in 1877, when the total area of the Stats 

 produced only 12 bushels per acre. The 1877 

 yield of 2,980,524 bushels was increased in 1878 

 to 3,870,251 bushels, a difference in favor of 

 the latter crop of 889,727 bushels. The pre- 

 vious crop at the time of harvest was worth 

 $3,041,258, or $1.02 per bushel ; the latter crop 

 at 82 cents per bushel was valued at $3,189,203, 

 or $147,945 more than the 1877 crop. In 1877 

 the area of oats was 1,556,282 acres; in 1878, 

 1,563,120 acres, an increase of 11,038 acres. 

 The average yield per acre was the same, 39 

 bushels. The 1877 yield of oats, 61,145,933 

 bushels, was increased in 1878 to 62,096,388, 

 or nearly a million (950,405) bushels in excess 

 of the previous crop. The prevailing low 

 prices of nearly all kinds of farm products, 

 when compared with 1877, finds no exception 

 in oats. The 1878 yield of nearly a million 

 more bushels of oats than in 1877 was worth 

 nearly four million dollars ($3,817,757) less 

 than the previous crop, which was valued at 

 $16,2f>9,6i7, against $12,451,899 for 1878. 



There are about 200 butter and cheese facto- 

 ries in operation in the State, and the value of 

 the annual product of the factories and milk- 

 condensing establishments is estimated to be 

 over $2,000,000 ; and all the dairy products of 

 the State will bs more than double this esti- 

 mate. 



The State Board of Agriculture, although 

 but a short time in existence, is organizing a 

 great work for the State. The present statis- 

 tics have proved so imperfect that the Board 

 has arranged a system of crop reports and ag- 

 ricultural and other statistics, gathered through 

 direct correspondence by the Secretary with 

 all sections of the State, at monthly intervals, 

 that has mat a most cordial welcome from 

 the agriculturists, as well as the more intel- 

 ligent in other pursuits of life, over the entire 

 State, and even extanded to other portions 

 of the country. Thesa reports have grown 

 from a single sheet to a pamphlet of from 24 

 to 43 pages. The meteorological statistics from 

 the three grand divisions of the State are now 



added. The publication of the market prices 

 of farm products at the great market centers 

 is another feature of these reports. 



The new Constitution requires the Secretary 

 of State to make an annual report on the af- 

 fairs of his department. He has the care of 

 the State House, the library, and the museum, 

 the last of which now contains 2,383 species of 

 fossils, 1,300 specimens of native birds, and a 

 nearly complete series of the native woods of 

 the State. A complete series of the fishes of 

 Illinois is now in the course of preparation, as 

 well as a full series of botanical specimens, to- 

 gether with a series of the fresh- water and 

 land shells of the Northwest. The complaint 

 is made that, notwithstanding the advance of 

 the State, there are no facts or figures to be 

 obtained from any reliable source showing its 

 vast resources in all branches of industry, in 

 all its departments of labor and business, and 

 the various ramifications thereof. No census 

 of the State is taken except that of the Fed- 

 eral Government once in ten years. As to the 

 State Library, not a dollar has been appro- 

 priated since 1869 ; and during the last two 

 years only ten new books have been obtained 

 by purchase, while forty volumes have been 

 donated by authors and publishers. The num- 

 ber of books of all descriptions in the State 

 Library, and duplicate volumes in the docu- 

 ment library and in store, two years ago, was 

 44,805. Since then, by exchange, donation, 

 and otherwise, including the volumes of laws, 

 journals, and legislative reports published by 

 the State, there have been added 13,616 vol- 

 umes of all classes and kinds of books. Eight 

 daily newspapers and sixteen magazines and 

 monthlies have been donated for the use of 

 the public and placed upon proper reading 

 desks; "and no place in the State House," 

 says the Secretary, "has more interested visit- 

 ors than the location of these books and pa- 

 pers so freely given by the publishers thereof." 

 The total number of copies of the various offi- 

 cial reports published by the State in two years 

 is 183,500. The fees received at the office and 

 paid into the Treasury during the two years 

 amounted to $13,061. Over 20,000 letters 

 were received and over 40,000 sent out. Dur- 

 ing that period licenses have been issued for 

 the incorporation of 502 companies for pecuni- 

 ary profit, of which 284 became fully organized. 

 Of the latter, 137 were manufacturing com- 

 panies, 69 for miscellaneous purposes, 36 for 

 mining, 17 for publishing, 8 for distilling, etc. 

 There have also been 293 companies not for 

 pecuniary profit organized. The total num- 

 ber of applicants for incorporation under the 

 present law up to October 1st was 2,878, of 

 which 2,040 companies became fully organized. 

 The whole number of railroad companies or- 

 ganized under the general law has been 136. 

 The number of pardons issued to prisoners in 

 the Penitentiary, Reform School, and county 

 jails of the State was 280. Certificates of res- 

 toration of citizenship have been issued to 360 



