7«4 



The National Geographic Magazine 



$650,000,000 to $675,000,000. Its farm 

 value is probably a little below that of 

 last year's crop. Otherwise it will be 

 the most valuable cotton crop ever raised 

 in this country and 7 per cent above the 

 average farm value of the crops of the 

 previous five years. 



The year was a trying one to cotton 

 from planting time to nearly the end of 

 the summer, but even under adverse con- 

 ditions a crop has been produced that will 

 be sufficient, with the surplus of last year, 

 to meet the requirements of spinners un- 

 til the next harvest. 



The fears of a cotton famine that fol- 

 lowed the low production of this country 

 in 1901 have not been justified, and in the 

 meantime efforts to make European spin- 

 ners partly independent of the upland cot- 

 ton of the South by aiding the growing 

 of "colonial" cotton have not made them- 

 selves felt. 



Among the strong points of advantage 

 possessed by this country's cotton is the 

 low cost of transportation to market. 

 Recent investigations by this department 

 indicate that the average cost of trans- 

 porting cotton per 100 pounds from farm 

 to local shipping point is about 16 cents; 

 from local shipping point to seaport, 

 about 40 cents, and from seaport to the 

 United Kingdom, about 32 cents, the total 

 being only 88 cents per 100 pounds, or 

 less than a cent a pound. 



TOTAL, WBALTH PRODUCTION IN I907 



Wealth production on farms in 1907, 

 as expressed in value, transcended the 

 high record of 1906, which was itself 

 much above the highest amount before 

 reached. In arriving at the total the 

 farm products of the year are estimated 

 in value for every detail presented by 

 the census and at that point in produc- 

 tion at which they acquire commercial 

 value. 



The grand total for 1907 is $7,412,- 

 000,000. This is $657,000,000 above the 

 value of 1906, $1,103,000,000 above that 

 of 1905, $1,253,000,000 above that of 

 1904, $1,495,000,000 above that of 1903, 



and $2,695,000,000 above the census 

 amount for 1899. 



The value of the farm products of 

 1907 was 10 per cent greater than that 

 of 1906, 17 per cent over 1905, 20 per 

 cent over 1904, 25 per cent over 1903, 

 and 57 per cent over 1899. 



During the last nine years wealth, es- 

 timated as above explained, was created 

 on farms to the fabulous amount of $53,- 

 000,000,000. 



Besides the crops, there were farm 

 dairy products in 1907 which nearly 

 reached $800,000,000. The price of but- 

 ter increased 4% cents a pound over 

 1906 and of milk three-fourths of a cent 

 a gallon. 



More than $600,000,000 must be re- 

 garded as the value of the poultry and 

 eggs produced on farms in 1907. The 

 amount may easily have been larger. 

 This industry has advanced at such a 

 rapid rate that no arithmetic can keep 

 up with it. The farm price of eggs in 

 1899 was 1 1. 1 5 cents per dozen as an 

 average for the United States ; in 1903, 

 12.37 cents; in 1904, 17.2 cents; in 1905, 

 18.7 cents : in 1906, 17 cents, and in 1907, 

 18.2 cents. 



Dressed poultry in New York sold for 

 10.78 cents per pound wholesale in 1899, 

 for 12.97 cents in 1903, for 12.57 cents 

 in 1904, for 13.36 cents in 1905, for 13.2 

 cents in 1906, and for 14.9 cents in 1907. 



iMOST OP OUR FOREIGN CREDIT PROVIDED 

 BY FARMERS 



The farmer provides the great bulk of 

 the foreign credit which other classes of 

 persons draw upon in the contrary 

 movement of credit against this coun- 

 try. 



The balance of trade in farm products 

 in favor of this country in 1907 was 

 $444,000,000, an amount that has been 

 exceeded in only four years — 1898, 1899, 

 1901, and 1902. In all other products 

 the trade of 1907 produced a balance of 

 only $2,500,000 in favor of this coun- 

 try. 



In eighteen years beginning with 1890 



