26 



Yearbook of the Department of AgricvZPwre^ 1921. 



Fig. 19. — Five crops — corn, hay and forage, cotton, wheat, and oats — constitute 

 nearly 90 per cent of the acreage and over 75 per cent of the value of all crops. Corn 

 for grain is the leading crop on the basis of value, and if the acreage of corn cut for 

 forage and for silage be added to that of corn for grain, instead of being included with 

 hay and forage, corn is the leading crop also in acreage. Cotton ranked third in value, 

 but fifth in acreage in 1919, the value of the cotton crop per acre being about twice 

 that of corn or wheat. Wheat stood fourth in value but third in acreage, while oats 

 were fifth in value and fourth in. acreage. Potatoes, then tobacco and apples ranked 

 next to these five crops in value, but barley, X"ye, and the grain sorghums ranked next 

 in acreage. 



CORN, HAY, WHEAT AND COTTON 



PRODUCTION PER CAPITA 



or 



TOTAL POPULATION 



FIVE YEAR PERIODS. 1866-1920 



toNrxoocoo>o>oo — — (orvr^ooooo»o>oo — — 



YIELD PER ACRE 



FIVE YEAR PERIODS. 1866-192 



I 00 CO CO CO O ( 



I o o ^ — 





Fig. 20. — These four crops — corn, hay, wheat, and cotton — constitute three-fourths 

 of the total crop acreage of the United States. Production per capita, it will be no.ted, 

 rose for 15 to 20 years after the Civil War, then remained more or less steady for 

 25 to 30 years, and has recently declined, except in the case of hay. The yield per 

 acre of corn has remained remarkably constant for 55 years, of hav and wheat has in- 

 creased about one-sixth, but the yield per acre of cotton has declined notahlv since 1914. 

 In general, production had kept pace with population until recently, not primarily be- 

 cause of increasing yields per acre, but mostly because of expanding crop acreage. 



