742 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 571. 



Figured in dollars of gain per acre, the 

 increases during the five years past of me- 

 dium farms were in the north central divi- 

 sion $11.25 ; in the western division $5.36 ; 

 in the North Atlantic $5.26; in the South 

 Atlantic division $4.93; and in the south 

 central division $4.66. The average in- 

 crease for the United States was $7.31. 

 The returns showed that farms of less in- 

 tensive culture and crop have increased in 

 value less than the farms having more 

 valuable crops and receiving high culture. 

 Everywhere is revealed a more intelligent 

 agriculture. Farmers are improving their 

 cultural methods and changing from less to 

 more profitable crops. Other causes for 

 higher values are better buildings, better 

 fences, tile draining, new facilities for 

 transportation, more railroads, and better 

 wagon roads. 



The cotton farms have increased in value 

 $460,000,000, so that it might be said that 

 during the past five years the cotton plan- 

 tations have had six crops, one of them a 

 permanent investment promising to pay a 

 good return year by year. Hay and grain 

 farms show an increase of $2,000,000,000; 

 livestock farms a still larger gain ; dairy 

 farms $369,000,000; tobacco farms, $57,- 

 000,000 ; rice, farms $3,300,000 ; fruit farms 

 $97,000,000 and vegetable farms $113,000,- 

 000. Every sunset during the past five 

 years has registered an increase of $3,400,- 

 000 in the value of the farms of this coun- 

 try. Every month has piled value upon 

 value until it has reached $102,000,000; 

 that portion of the national debt bearing 

 interest is equaled by the increased value of 

 farms in nine months, and this increase for 

 a little over a year balances the entire 

 interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing 

 debt of the United States. 



The secretary thus summarizes the eco- 

 nomic position of farmers : 



If the farmers' economic position in the United 

 States is to be condensed to a short paragraph, it 



may be said that their farms produced this year 

 wealth valued at $6,415,000,000; that farm prod- 

 ucts are yearly expbrted with a port value of 

 $875,000,000; that farmers have reversed an ad- 

 verse international balance of trade, and have 

 been building up one favorable to this country by 

 sending to foreign nations a surplus which in 

 sixteen years has aggregated $12,000,000,000, 

 leaving an apparent net balance of trade during 

 that time amounting to $5,092,000,000 after an 

 adverse balance against manufactures and other 

 products not agricultural, amounting to $543,- 

 000,000 has been offset. The manufacturing in- 

 dustries- that depend upon farm products for raw 

 materials employed 2,154,000 persons in 1900 and 

 used a capital of $4,132,000,000. Within a decade 

 farmers have become prominent as bankers and 

 as money lenders throughout large areas; and 

 during the past five years prosperous conditions 

 and the better-directed efforts of the farmers 

 themselves have increased the value of their 

 farms 33.5 per cent., or an amount approximately 

 equal to $6,133,000,000. 



Following his introduction he refers to 

 the fact that this is the first annual report 

 of his third term as secretary, and on this 

 ground he presents rather a review of the 

 work of the department during the eight 

 years just elapsed than the ordinary syn- 

 opsis of the operations of the year. 



He presents the results accomplished by 

 the Weather Bureau for the benefit of the 

 farmers, mariners and manufacturers, and 

 points out that with all the development of 

 this work the average per annum increase 

 in the cost of the service for the past ten 

 years is but 4.41 per cent. He emphasizes 

 the necessity of scientific research with the 

 view to acquiring a greater knowledge of 

 meteorological science. "With this view he 

 established three years ago a station at 

 Mount Weather, Va., devoted to meteoro- 

 logical research. He proposes that the 

 Weather Bureau shall hereafter attain as 

 eminent a position in the work of scientific 

 research as it has heretofore admittedly 

 held in practical meteorology. 



Of the Bureau of Animal Indiistry he 

 says that the work of fighting contagious 



