AGRICULTURE 83 
With the exception of some uncultivable spots of unimportant 
extent and size, the vast area of arenaceous loamy soil comprised 
within the limits of the prairie regions of Missouri is tillable, and 
susceptible of profitable culture. 
GaME, Birps, AND ANIMALs.—In times past, the various wild 
animals known to the American fauna abounded in the forests and 
prairies, and even at present deer, wild turkeys, pheasants or ruffed 
grouse, partridges, wild pigeons and squirrels, are found in consid- 
erable numbers in some parts of the State. Formerly, great flocks 
of prairie hens, or pinnated grouse, inhabited the prairies, while 
countless multitudes of wild ducks, geese, swans, snipe, plovers, 
and other water fowl, hovered over the lakes and swamps that bor- 
der the sinuous channels of the principal rivers; but they are fast 
waning in numbers. Although reduced by reckless pursuit, many 
varieties of fish esteemed for their economical and culinary value, 
inhabit the streams. The black bass (Grystes fasciatus), the buffalo 
perch (/faploidonotus grunniens), several species of ‘cat fishes or 
Silurids, of pickerels, of Percids or perches, and other kinds of 
smaller size and less importance for food, still abound in some 
rivers. 
No legal enactment exists in Missouri for the protection of game 
and fish, and these animals appear doomed to speedy extermination 
and ultimate extinction. 
Crop Sratistics.—According to the census of 1870, the number 
of acres in cultivation in Missouri was 9,130,615; the number of 
farms, 149,065, with an estimated cash value of $392,908,047 ; and 
the value of farming implements and machinery, $15,596,426. 
The following synoptic table, taken from the report of the Statis- 
tician of the Department of Agriculture, shows the product of the 
principal crops grown in Missouri. The statistical estimates herein 
contained are mainly based upon the census returns of 1870: 
Amount of | Average | No of Acres | Value ” Total 
PRODUCE, Crop yield per in bushel, 
f 1870. Acre, | each crop, tonortb. | Valuation. 
Indian Corn..bush 94,990,000] 31.4 |3,025,159 44 |41,795,600 
i Se: do | 6,750,000) 13 519,230} 91 | 6,142,500 
sp EE do 299,000! 15.6 19,166, 68 203,320 
Oats, . do | 5,525,000) 25 221,000) 37 | 2,044,250 
MOREY psikase ss 285,000) 26.4 10,795 84 239,400 
Buckwheat, ...do 4,000] 23.6 3.559 6 6,280 
tatoes.....s. fe) 200,000 103 21,359} 56 | 1,232,000 
Tobacco,,. pounds)19,610,000,750 26,146} 09.3) 1,823,730 
HAY, <s0vceesuss tons 532,009 1.29} 412,403)12 82 | 6,820,240 
Total | 4,258,817 60,357,320 
The estimated total number and total value of each kind of live 
stock, and the average price in February 1871, were as follows: 
ANIMALS. Number. Average Price, Value, 
Heiteiicnoh es AG 483,000 $63.61 $30,723,630 
Mules 83,400 83.43 6,958,062 
Milch Cows 371,200 31.92 11,848,704 
Oxen and other Cattle... 731,100 24.46 17,882,706 
heep 1,578,200 1.61 2,540,902 
Hogs.. 2,200,000 4.34 9,548,000 
Total $79,502,004 
Corn—Maize or Indian Corn—Zea Mays, Z., Is the noblest- 
looking of our cereal grasses. It is considered to be a native of 
South America, to have been cultivated in Mexico and Peru from 
time immemorial, and to have been introduced in Europe about the 
beginning of the sixteenth century. It is at present grown in 
almost every part of the universe possessing a summer temperature 
sufficiently elevated to insure its maturation. Of the cultivated 
cerealia, indeed, it is that which, next to rice, furnishes food for 
the greater number of the human race; and it may be held to be 
the most valuable gift of the new world to the old. 
The Zea Curagua, or Valparaiso corn, another botanical species 
with distinct grain-spikes and inflorescence, is aot cultivated in the 
United States. 
Like other plants which have been long in cultivation in various 
countries, there are numerous sub-species of the maize which gener- 
ally cross readily. The varieties seemingly best adapted to the 
fertile soils and warm, semi-tropical summers of Central and South- 
ern Missouri belong to the Dent, or Gourd-seed species. In the 
counties bordering on the Iowa line the flint varieties, distinguished 
by a hard, glassy grain, and a tendency to stool or tiller, are often 
planted on account of their greater aptitude for early maturity. 
As the agricultural reports show, corn far exceeds in value the 
aggregate of all the other staples grown within our State. A defi- 
ciency in the corn crop influences the price of beef, pork, butter, 
and, indirectly, the price of all other breadstuffs. While most 
sensitive to meteorological influences, it is yet one of the surest of 
crops, and a total failure of this staple is almost beyond the range 
of possibility. No crop is so easily saved, or so little liable to 
damage in the hands of the farmer. 
The semi-tropical temperature of our summers, points to Indian 
Corn as the great staple of the Valley of the Mississippi. A good, 
arable soil, adapted to the growth of wheat, tobacco and potatoes, 
like most of the arenaceous and clay-loams that overlay the surface 
of our prairies and hill-sides, scarcely ever fails to produce an 
average crop of maize in ordinary seasons. But in order to admire 
the majestic proportions attained by this noble plant in fertile soils 
and a congenial climate, it must be viewed as it grows in the deep 
porous alluvium of the bottoms of our Western rivers, with its 
millions of stalks waving their feathery plumage and pendent 
tassels, in the gleaming, glittering radiance of a July sun. The 
labor of a few months sends up great shoots twelve to fifteen feet 
in height, while the roots expand to a distance of a score of yards, 
and the seed ripens more than a thousand-fold. 
According to the reports of the Department of Agriculture, the 
average production of corn in Missouri is about 31.5 bushels per 
acre. Although not accurate, these figures are probably sufficiently 
correct for the purpose of practical comparison, and furnish an 
eloquent argument in favor of better agriculture. To produce the 
large crops they can and ought to be made to yield, our lands need 
deeper plowing, more thorough cultivation, and the appliance of 
fertilizers and manures wherever it is practicable. 
In the great corn districts of our State, this grain is usually fed 
to neat stock in the open field, cut up with the fodder, or simply 
husked as it comes from the crib. Pigs are turned in to pick up 
the waste, and nothing done, except to select a dry, sheltered situa- 
tion, where the animals can have free access to water. ‘To Eastern 
