14 FIELD CROPS 



and improved woodlands. Of the 311,000,000 acres in 

 field crops, about 191,000,000 acres, or about 61 per cent, 

 were in grain crops; 72,000,000 acres, or about 23 per 

 cent, in hay and forage crops; about 10 per cent in fiber 

 crops, and the remainder in tuber, root, sugar, stimulant, 

 and miscellaneous crops. 



Of the total value of $2,998,704,412 for all crops, as re- 

 ported for the Census of 1900, approximately 50 per cent 

 was grain crops; $484,000,000, or about 16 per cent, hay 

 and forage crops; and $325,000,000, or about 11 per cent, 

 fiber crops. The 1910 census shows very little change in the 

 relative values, though all crops are very much increased 

 in value over those of 1900. The value of all grain crops 

 in 1909 1 was $2,665,539,714, or nearly as much as the value of 

 all crop combined in 1899. The value of the cotton crop was 

 $703,000,000, as compared with $325,000,000 for all fiber 

 crops in 1899; while the value of hay and forage increased 

 to $824,000,000 in the decade. The value of all field crops was 

 $5,487,161,223 for the year. Again, dividing the total val- 

 ue of crops in 1909 by 6,361,502, the number of farms in 

 the United States in 1910, gives an average value per farm 

 of $863, as against $523 per farm for 1899. 



7. Grain Crops. A grain crop is one which is grown 

 principally for the production of its seeds; the most impor- 

 tant grains are the cereals, which are grasses grown for their 

 seeds. The more important cereals in the United States 

 are corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, and rice. Millet and 

 sorghum are also cereals, though some types of these two 



iThe census is known as the census of 1910, but the figures of crop yields 

 and values are for the previous year, 1909. 



