FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS 



33 



and cotton, forty-nine; but if the last two years, which were 

 years of recovery from the previous depression, are stricken 

 out and the period from 1866 to 1878 inclusive is taken, the 

 decline amounts to thirty-two, forty-nine, and fifty-eight per 

 cent, respectively. 



As a result of these off-setting fluctuations of price, the value 

 of the total annual crop (Chart V) shows less fluctuation and 

 less increase during the period than does the quantity, the 



1866 

 700 



1868 1870 "1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 



600 



500 



<400 



300 

 I 



200 



100 





CHART V. VALUE 



COT r 







increase from 1866 to 1880 amounting to only sixty-five per 

 cent for corn, one hundred and five per cent for wheat, and thirty- 

 seven per cent for cotton; and substituting for 1880 the last 

 year of the depression, 1878, the increase amounts to only seven 

 per cent for corn, and forty per cent for wheat, while the total 

 value of the cotton crop shows a decrease of five per cent. Thus, 

 although the number of men engaged in agriculture and the 

 amount of capital invested in improved land and machinery 

 was constantly and rapidly increasing, the resulting increased 

 production brought in little or no more revenue than had the 

 smaller crops of fifteen or twenty years before. 



