VALUE OF THE WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT. 31 



culture. Fertilizers were little known, barnyard manure was still 

 regarded in many places as a nuisance to be got rid of, and rotation of 

 crops was little practiced. Planting according to the pbases of tlie 

 moon was still in vogue. 



Increase in cereals.— The })roduction of corn and wlieat, shown by the 

 census, aftbrds some proof of the increasing effectiveness of cultivation 

 and, by just inference, of the assistance given by the Department. In 

 1839 the i)roductiou of corn was 23 bushels for each person in the 

 United States; in 1859 it was 27 bushels; in 1889, 34 bushels. This 

 does not of course show with certainty that there was a corresponding 

 increase in the production for each acre cultivated, but a comparison 

 of the crop of 1879 with that of 1889 sustains that inference. In 1879 

 there were 35 bushels of corn raised for every j)erson in the country, in 

 1889 only 31 bushels, but the production per acre increased from 28.1 

 bushels in 1879 to 29.5 in 1889. It may be supposed that a similar 

 increase in product per acre would be found for the other decades if a 

 record of the acreage planted had been made. 



The corai)arison of the production of wheat gives a similar result. 

 The quantity raised for each person in 1839 was 5.3 bushels; in 1890 it 

 was 7.4. 



Other manifest gains. — Through its Division of Statistics the Depart- 

 ment seeks to place in the hands of farmers such information as will 

 enable them to estimate wisely the value of their crops and avoid 

 deception and loss from speculative information spread abroad in the 

 interest of buyers. Through the Bureau of Animal Industry it not 

 only seeks to discover the causes and remedies of animal diseases, but 

 also to maintain measures of control and prevention that will hinder 

 the spread of contagion. Further, the diseases of plants are the sub- 

 ject of study of one division, and injurious insects receive the special 

 attention of another. Also, the introduction of new and valuable eco- 

 nomic i)lants has been a most important feature of Department work, 

 and many improved varieties have resulted from its efforts. 



Now, while it is manifestly impossible to express the results of all 

 this work exactly in money returns, yet it is quite possible to do so in 

 some cases, and in others to assure ourselves that they are too far- 

 reaching and too great to be easily made the subject of exact reckon- 

 ing. For instance, no one can venture upon an accurate estimate of 

 the money saved to the country by the suppression and utter eradica- 

 tion of contagious pleuro-pneumonia by the Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 nor of the value of the inspection of animals and meats by which Euro- 

 pean markets are kept open to these products; yet, as has already been 

 stated, our actual saving, as the result of vessel inspection, is shown 

 very closely by the reduction of the rate of insurance on export animals. 

 This reduction saves in the aggregate over $2,100,000 yearly. In like 

 manner the monej'^ returns of the increased yield of sugar per ton of 

 cane, secured through the Division of Chemistry, can be shown by 

 actual calculation, but no one can estimate the value of the introduc- 



