43 8 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



As the result of an increase of farms and farm products so out- 

 stripping the increase in population, the only staples the growing of 

 which is even fairly remunerative are pork and cotton. This is 

 accounted for by our monopoly of the world's supply of cotton, and 

 by the fact that the number of swine has not kept pace with the 

 increase in population; but it does not follow that there is a deficient 

 supply of swine, for the number of both swine and cattle was greatly 

 in excess of requirements prior to the Civil War. 



Except for brief periods, the prices of cattle continued remunera- 

 tive up to the middle of the ninth decade, when the new farms of the 

 West, the open range regions of Texas, the plains, and the mountain 

 areas furnished a supply far in excess of demands, swamping the mar- 

 kets and reducing prices to a level precluding all profit. During 

 twenty years the exportation of corn has averaged less than 5 per cent 

 of the product, and of oats less than i per cent, and the price of these 

 grains depends almost wholly upon the home requirements and the 

 extent of the supply. That lower prices follow enlarged supply is 

 evident; and a medium, or even a short, crop brings the farmer more 

 profit, and often more money in gross, than does a full or large one, 

 as is clearly shown in Table I, which goes far toward explaining why 

 the farmer is not prosperous. To illustrate: the corn crop of 1889 

 exceeded that of 1887 by more than 656,000,000 bushels, yet, counting 

 the cost of the extra amount handled, it will bring the growers 

 $100,000,000 less. Again, the crop of 1878 was 64 per cent greater 

 than that of 1874, and, allowance made for cost of handling, brought 

 the farmer $149,000,000 less. The five crops of corn grown in the 

 second half-decade tabulated exceeded the five crops of the preceding 

 period by 2,128,000,000 bushels, yet the farmers netted $71,000,000 

 less therefrom. Doubtless a better result would have accrued had 

 these 2,128,000,000 bushels been converted into fuel on the farms, as 

 is being done with part of the surplus of 1889. 



Covering twenty years of corn-production, Table I shows that in 

 the first half-decade somewhat less than one acre of corn, or 24.4 

 bushels, per capita, was sufficient to meet all demands. In the second 

 half-decade the corn area was increased to i . i acres per capita, the 

 diminishing price indicating that 30.4 bushels for each person was 

 more than was needed. This addition to the supply reduced the 

 average returns from $13.32 to $10.10 per acre. During the third 

 period the area increased to i . 25 acres per capita, the short crop of 

 1 88 1 diminishing the per capita supply six-tenths of a bushel. The 



