16 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1253 



basins of geysers and hot springs like Yellow- 

 stone's. 



The crater of Katmai is very large. Its cir- 

 cumference, says Robert E. Griggs, who 

 headed the expeditions which explored the 

 entire area, is 8.4 miles, measured along the 

 highest point of the rim. 



The area is 4.6 miles. The precipitous abyss, 

 which does not extend to the rim of the southwest 

 side, is somewhat shorter, measuring 2.6 miles in 

 length, 7.6 miles in circumference, and 4.2 square 

 miles in area. The milky blue lake at the bottom 

 is 1.4 miles long and nine tenths of a mile wide, 

 with an area of 1.1 square miles. The little cresent- 

 shaped island in the lake measures 400 feet from 

 point to point. The precipice from the lake to the 

 highest point of the rim is 3,700 feet. 



Mr. Griggs estimates the capacity of the 

 hole at 4,500,000,000 cubic yards. If this hole 

 were filled with water, there would be enough 

 to supply New York City for 1,635 days. The 

 great eruption blew out 11,000,000,000 cubic 

 yards of material, more than forty times the 

 amount removed in the construction of the 

 Panama Canal. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED 

 STATES 



How American farmers responded to the 

 food needs of the United States and the coun- 

 tries with which it was associated in the war 

 is described in detail in the annual report of 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, David F. Hous- 

 ton, just made public. 



For wheat and other leading cereals and for 

 potatoes, tobacco and cotton, farmers in 1918 

 planted 289,000,000 acres, an increase over the 

 preceding record year of 5,600,000. It is espe- 

 cially noteworthy, the secretary points out that, 

 while the acreage planted in wheat in 1917 was 

 slightly less than for the record year of 1915, 

 it exceeded the five-year average (1910-14) by 

 7,000,000 ; that the acreage planted in 1918 ex- 

 ceeded the previous record by 3,500,000; and 

 that the indications are that the acreage 

 planted during the current fall season will con- 

 siderably exceed that of any preceding fall 

 planting. 



ISTotwithstanddng adverse climatic conditions 

 in 1917, especially for wheat, and in 1918 espe- 



cially for corn, the secretary reports that only 

 1915 has exceeded either 1917 or 1918 in the 

 aggregate yield of wheat and other leading 

 cereals. 



" The estimated total for 1917," he explains, 

 " was 5,796,000,000 bushels and for 1918, 5,638,- 

 000,000 bushels, a decrease of approximately 

 160,000,000 bushels. But the conclusion would 

 be unwarranted that the available supplies for 

 human food or the aggregate nutritive value 

 will be less in 1918 than in 1917. Fortunately, 

 the wheat production for the current year — 

 918,920,000 bushels— is greatly in excess of that 

 for each of the preceding two years, 650,828,- 

 000 in 1917, and 636,318,000 in 1916, and is 

 next to the record wheat crop of the nation. 

 The estimated corn crop, 2,749,000,000 bushels, 

 exceeds the five-year pre-war average by 17,- 

 000,000 bushels, is 3.4 per cent, above the aver- 

 age in quality and greatly sui)erior to that of 

 1917." 



Turning to live stock, the secretary notes 

 that the number of pounds of beef for 1918 is 

 given at 8,500,000,000 pounds, as against 

 6,079,000,000 for 1914, the year preceding the 

 European war; and that the total for 1918 of 

 beef pork and mutton is given at 19,495,000,000 

 pounds, as against 15,587,000,000 pounds for 

 1914. 



On the basis of prices that have recently 

 prevailed, the secretary says, the value of all 

 crops produced in 1918 and of live stock on 

 farms on January 1, including horses, mules, 

 cattle, sheep, swine and poultry, is estimated 

 to be $24,700,000,000, compared with $21,325,- 

 000,000 for 1917 and $11,700,000,000, the an- 

 nual average in the five-year period 1910 to 

 1914. This greatly increased financial show- 

 ing, the secretary explains, does not mean that 

 the nation is better off to that extent, or that 

 its real wealth has advanced in that proportion. 

 Considering merely the domestic relations, the 

 true state is indicated rather in terms of real 

 commodities. The increased values, however, 

 do reveal that monetary returns to the farmers 

 have increased proportionately with those of 

 other groups of producers in the nation and 

 that their purchasing power has kept pace in 

 the rising scale of prices. 



