THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FARM 



From the corn crop of a single year, the far- 

 mers of the New Earth can pay the interest on 

 the national debt for a year, the entire debt 

 itself, and a large amount of the actual 

 expenses of the government for the year in 

 the bargain. In 1905, the corn crop reached 

 the highest point ever known, — 2,708,000,000 

 bushels. Other crops in the same year were 

 valued as follows: Hay, $605,000,000; cot- 

 ton, $575,000,000; wheat, $525,000,000; oats, 

 $282,000,000; potatoes, $138,000,000; while 

 dairy products reached a value of $665,000,000, 

 an increase over the previous year of 

 $54,000,000. 



The products of the New Earth in the 

 United States for two years are over six times 

 as large as the capital stock of all the banks in 

 America, to say nothing of the enormous capi- 

 tal invested in these farms. In four years, 1900 

 to 1904, the farms of the United States in- 

 creased in value over two bilHons of dollars. 

 For the five years ending with 1905, according 

 to an estimate by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 the value of these farms increased at the rate 

 of three millions, four hundred thousand dol- 

 lars a day. The products of the farms for the 



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