470 AGRICULTURE. 



"According to the report of Hon. J. R. Dodge, the surplus of the corn 

 and wheat crops over home consumption, for the last year, was : 



Bushels. Value. 



Corn . 64,781,250 $14,899,687 



Wheat 20,907,700 14,635,390 



Total value of surplus corn and wheat .... $29,535,077 



" If every bushel of surplus corn and wheat of last year's crop were applied 

 to the mortgage indebtedness in 1887, on the farm lands of the State, there 

 would still remain $117,784,977 to be paid out of other crops or earnings. 

 Or, after applying every bushel of the surplus to the mortgage indebtedness 

 of 1887 on lands, lots, and chattels, there would still remain $386,843,991 

 unpaid. Or, applying every bushel of the surplus wheat and corn to the 

 interest for one year, at 8 per cent, on the mortgage indebtedness, there 

 would still remain unpaid, of interest, $3,875,250. Of this mortgage indebt- 

 edness, non-residents and building and loan associations hold claims to the 

 amount of $69,355,639, or over double the amount of the surplus corn and 

 wheat. 



"The increase in mortgage indebtedness on lands, for loans, from 1870 to 

 1880, was 21 per cent, and from 1880 to 1887 it was 23 per cent. 



'* The great State of Pennsylvania is not exempt from the general depres- 

 sion which has been indicated by the cases before cited. In Lancaster 

 County, the largest in agricultural products of all counties in the United 

 States, the farmers are feeling most keenly the pressure. From one of the 

 leading attorneys of Lancaster, I obtain the following statement: 'The 

 assessed valuation of all the real estate of Lancaster County, including city, 

 town, and farm property, is about $82,000,000. The amount of indebtedness 

 on this property is about $25,000,000. The depreciation in farm values, 

 in the past ten years, in Lancaster County, is fully 40 per cent, and still 

 decreasing.' 



" Recently one of the assessors for the State of New York reported to the 

 New York Tribune that he had visited fourteen counties, in one of its finest 

 agricultural districts, and that, while city property is advancing, farm property 

 is growing less and less valuable. 



" Why multiply proofs? The depression is widespread and universal. 



" In a somewhat elaborate presentation of 'agricultural depression and its 

 causes,' in his March report, Hon. J. R. Dodge, agricultural statistician, 

 says: 'Diversification is essential to agricultural salvation.' That is, to 

 secure reasonable reward for labor and investment, the farmers should culti- 

 vate a greater variety of crops. To arrest the downward tendency in the 

 market values of crops, and to restore the values of lands, a greater effort 

 should be made to meet all the demands for all kinds of food products. Has 

 this system been tried, and has it failed? Let us see. Take the energetic 

 and enterprising State of Michigan, than which no State in the Union, 

 perhaps, has a broader system of diversified farming. Its whole surface is 

 dotted with thriving villages, towns, and cities, and the farmers have easy 



