828 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 832 



year 1889, but in a less de^ee than corn and 

 hay. During the twenty-one years the frac- 

 tion of the national crop produced in the 

 North Atlantic states declined from 6.8 to 5.9 

 per cent.; in the north central states, from 

 68.6 to 62.9 per cent. ; whereas there were 

 increases in the other geographic divisions — 

 from 5.9 to 6.6 per cent, in the South Atlantic ; 

 from 5.2 to 9.7 in the south central, and from 

 13.5 to 14.9 in the western states. 



Easily the fifth crop in point of value is 

 oats, a position that it has long occupied. The 

 value this year is probably over $380,000,000 

 and has been exceeded in this respect only by 

 the crop of 1909. Compared with the average 

 value of the five preceding years, this year's 

 value is 12 per cent, greater. In quantity the 

 crop of this year is a magnificent one. For 

 the second time in the history of this country 

 the crop exceeds one billion bushels, the pre- 

 cise estimate standing at 1,096,396,000 bushels, 

 or about 90 million bushels above the great 

 crop of 1909. The crop of this year is 22 

 per cent, greater than the average of the five 

 previous years. The production of this crop 

 has shifted somewhat into the south central 

 and western states in comparison with the na- 

 tional production since 1889. The share of the 

 North Atlantic states has declined from 10.8 

 to 8.6 per cent.; of the South Atlantic states, 

 from 2.9 to 2 per cent.; of the north central 

 states, from 79.7 to 77.2 per cent.; the south 

 central states gained the difference between 

 4.7 and 6.5 per cent. ; the western states the 

 difference between 1.9 and 5.7 per cent. 



Next in order of value is the potato crop, 

 which was exceeded in only two or three for- 

 mer years. Compared with the average value 

 of the five previous years, the value for this 

 year is 1 per cent, greater. With the excep- 

 tion of the crop of 1909, which was in a degree 

 an over-production, the crop of potatoes this 

 year was the largest ever grown in this coun- 

 try, the preliminary estimate of this depart- 

 ment being 328,787,000 bushels. This quan- 

 tity is 8 per cent, greater than the average for 

 the preceding five years. 



Beet-sugar production in 1910 has been sub- 

 ject to vicissitudes of climate and other influ- 



ences. A smaller acreage of sugar beets was 

 planted in Colorado ; there was a lack of mois- 

 ture necessary to a full crop in Utah and 

 Idaho; whereas the production of California, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin and other states consid- 

 erably exceeds that of last year, partly due to 

 three new operating factories. Five new fac- 

 tories will be in operation in 1911 — two in 

 California and one each in Colorado, Utah and 

 Nevada. All acreage planted this year re- 

 turned beets excellent in both quality and 

 quantity. 



It is too early now to forecast accurately 

 the production of beet sugar for 1910, but the 

 indication is that the crop will be about as 

 large as that of 1909, or, say, 512,000 short 

 tons. The factory value of this sugar is about 

 $51,000,000, or hardly less than the value of 

 the crop of 1909, which was the record year. 



Co mm ercial estimates indicate that the 

 cane-sugar crop of this year will be about 

 347,000 short tons, which has been frequently 

 exceeded in recent years. The factory value 

 of this sugar is about $28,000,000, an amount 

 that has been exceeded in four years. 



If prospects are realized, the entire sugar 

 crop of factory production, beet and cane com- 

 bined, will be about 859,000 short tons, or a 

 production that has been exceeded in only one 

 year, 1909. In factory value the two sugar 

 crops will equal about $79,000,000, and if to 

 this be added the value of molasses, syrup, 

 beet pulp and sorghum and maple products, 

 the combined value of the production of sugar, 

 syrup and molasses, with subsidiary products, 

 is'about $97,000,000, or only $4,000,000 under 

 the high-water mark of 1909. 



The tobacco crop has slightly exceeded the 

 production of the record year 1909, and its 

 967,150,000 pounds are 26 per cent, above the 

 average production of the five preceding years. 

 Apparently the tobacco prices of 1909 are 

 barely maintained for the crop of this year, 

 and the total value of the crop is therefore 

 about the same as it was for the crop of 1909, 

 or, say, $95,000,000. No tobacco crop previous 

 to 1909 was worth its amount by fully 20 mil- 

 lion dollars. Tobacco, under the better prices 

 of recent years, is steadily climbing upward in 



