474 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII, No. 952 



The soil is the one indestructible, immutable 

 asset the nation possesses. It is the one resource 

 that can not be exhausted; that can not be used 

 up. . . . It is evident that it can not wear out, that 

 so far as the mineral food is concerned it will con- 

 tinue automatically to supply adequate quantities 

 of the mineral plant foods for crops. ... As a 

 national asset the soil is safe as a means of feed- 

 ing mankind for untold ages to come. 



CROP ESTIMATES MEASURED BY THE CENSUS 



Fortunately, there is a trustworthy measure 

 applied to the progress or retrogression of this 

 country every ten years, when every farmer 

 and land owner in all the states must make a 

 sworn statement to the Bureau of Census in 

 regard to his crops and herds ; and, fortunately 

 this statement is not subject to subsequent re- 

 vision or inflation by any " estimates " of the 

 " Crop Eeporting Board " with an " opti- 

 mistic " secretary of agriculture as the chair- 

 man. 



Thus, while the " crop statistics " of the agri- 

 cultural department claim an increase of 50 

 per cent, in the production of corn in the 

 southern states from 1899 to 1909, the data 

 from the U. S. Bureau of Census show an ac- 

 tual decrease of 7 per cent. In other words, 

 the Department of Agriculture reports that 

 the total production of corn for the thirteen 

 states from Texas and Arkansas to the At- 

 lantic, and south of the Ohio and Potomac, 

 was increased by 239 million bushels from 

 1899 to 1909; while the figures from the Bu- 

 reau of Census prove that instead of an in- 

 crease there was a positive decrease of 31 mil- 

 lion bushels. 



The accompanying statistical data and 

 graphic illustrations reveal the percentage of 

 inflation or boasting by the agricultural de- 

 partment as compared with the census facts 

 relating to corn production in the individ- 

 ual states. 



STATISTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 



The census reveals an increase in the popu- 

 lation of contiguous continental United 

 States of 21 per cent, during the last decade 

 (from 76 million to 92 million people). The 

 Bureau of Census also found an increase of 



4.8 per cent, in farm land, and increase of 15.4 

 per cent, in farmed land, which means the 

 land used for the production of crops, includ- 

 ing pasture for live stock. 



But has our increased production per acre 

 ajnounted to more than 21 per cent., as the 

 above quotations would lead us to believe ? If 

 so, our total increase in production should be 

 39.6 per cent., considering that we are farm- 

 ing 15.4 per cent, more acres. But the report 

 of the Bureau of Census shows only 1.7 per 

 cent, increase in the total production of all 

 cereal crops, including corn, wheat, oats, bar- 

 ley, rye, rice, buckwheat, Kafir corn, emmer 

 and spelt, the aggregate production having 

 been 4,439 million bushels in 1899 and 4,513 

 million bushels in 1909; and a comparison of 

 the crop " statistics " of the Department of 

 Agriculture for these years with the averages 

 for the three-year periods, 1898 to 1900, and 

 1908 to 1910, respectively, shows that, on the 

 whole, 1909 was a slightly more favorable sea- 

 son than was 1899, for the production of the 

 cereal crops. 



An increase of 15.^ per cent, in farmed land 

 with an increase of only 1.7 per cent, in pro- 

 duction reveals the truth of reduced yield per 

 acre. And neither oflicial " estimates " nor 

 official boasting can controvert this established 

 American fact. 



SHORTAGE OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS 



We might expect and hope that a much 

 larger increase would be found in the live 

 stock produced during the decade on the farms 

 of the United States, but instead we find no 

 increase at all. In fact, the number of cattle 

 decreased by sis million (from 68 to 62 million 

 head) ; the swine decreased by five million 

 (from 63 to 58 million head) ; and the sheep 

 decreased by nine million (from 62 to 53 mil- 

 lion head) ; while horses and mules increased 

 by less than three million (from 22^ to 24 mil- 

 lion on farms, and from 25 to 27* million all 

 told, including those in cities). 



(The time of year the counts were taken 

 varied by sis weeks, June 1, for 1900, and 

 April 15, for 1910, but even with possible al- 

 lowances for this variation, the number of 



