Ixxvi INTRODUCTION. 



The following table shows the amount of peas and beans raised in the western States in 1860 as 

 compared with 1850 : 



I860. 1850. 



Ohio 102,511 60,108 



Indiana 79, 902 35, 773 



Michigan 165, 128 74, 254 



Illinois 108, 028 82, 814 



Wisconsin 99, 484 20, 657 



Iowa 41, 081 4, 775 



Missouri 107, 999 46, 017 



Kentucky 288, 346 202, 574 



Minnesota 18, 988 10, 002 



Kansas 9, 827 



Nebraska 5, 029 



1,026,323 537,434 



It will be observed that the whole western States do not produce as much peas and beans as the 

 State of New York alone. Kentucky produces more than any other western State. Michigan comes 

 next, and then Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio. But these crops are not raised to any considerable extent in 

 the west. 



During the present year (1864) the west has barely been able to supply the home demand for 

 beans, and, to some extent at least, has imported them from the middle States and Canada. 



The following table shows the amount of peas and beans raised in the southern States in 1860 

 as compared with 1850 : 



I860. 1850. 



Virginia 515, 168 521,579 



North Carolina 1, 932, 204 1, 584, 252 



South Carolina 1, 728, 074 1, 026, 900 



Georgia 1, 765, 214 1, 142, Oil 



Alabama 1, 482, 036 892, 701 



Louisiana 431,148 161,732 



Texas 341,961 179,350 



Mississippi 1, 954, 666 1, 072, 757 



Arkansas 440, 472 285, 738 



Tennessee 547, 803 309, 321 



Florida 363, 217 135, 359 



11,501,963 7,371,700 



The States and Territories raised about 9,000,000 bushels of peas and beans in 1850. Of these 

 the southern States raised over 7,000,000 bushels. In 1860 the States and Territories raised about 

 15,000,000 bushels, and of these the southern States raised over 11,500,000 bushels. 



As before said, we have no means of knowing how much of this quantity is peas and how much 

 beans. In the northern States the proportion of beans is undoubtedly larger than in the southern 

 States. The so-called &quot;cow pea &quot; of the south is more closely allied to the bean than to the pea family. 

 It is, however, a most valuable plant in a climate sufficiently warm to mature it. It has done much 

 for southern agriculture. Like all the leguminous plants, it contains a high percentage of nitrogen ; and, 

 when ploughed under as manure, or consumed on the farm by stock, it adds greatly to the fertility of 

 the soil. It is the great renovating crop of the southern States. To a certain extent it is to the south 

 what red clover is to the north. Within the past thirty years its cultivation has been greatly extended 

 both as a green crop for ploughing under as manure and as a grain crop. Its importance in southern 

 agriculture can hardly be overestimated. The great want of American agriculture is a plant which 



