12 



BULLETIN 182, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTUKE. 



In importance it no longer competes with the cereals ; it exceeds them. 

 Of 64,860,000 acres (26,250,000 hectares) of arable land in the Ger- 

 man Empire, 8,150,000 acres (3,300,000 hectares), or 12,5 per -cent, 

 were jjlanted with potatoes during the year 1901, a proportion which 

 was maintained essentially unchanged during the five succeeding 

 years. The cultivation of cereals was relatively slight, amoimting 

 in 1901 to 3,090,000 acres (1,250,000 hectares), that is, about 4,75 per 

 cent of the total farming area. 



Compared with all other civilized countries, Germany has the 

 most extensive potato lands in proportion to both its area and the 

 number of inhabitants. Table II shows the acreage of potatoes cul- 

 tivated in various countries during the year 1900, 



Table II. — Area of potato lands in various countries in 1900. 



Countries. 



Calculated on 

 a total area 

 of 100 acres. 



Area grown 

 for each 10,000 

 inhabitants. 



Germany 



Acres. 



5.4 

 3.9 

 1.8 

 2.9 

 1.6 

 .7 

 .1 



Acres. 

 158. 88 



Austria 



110. 70 





75.60 



France 



97.36 





30.64 





81.54 



United States . . . 



34 10 







For several years the potato crops of Germany have increased 

 enormously, not only in the quantity produced on a given area, but 

 also in the total amount, as is shown in Table III, covering the 

 years' 1896 to 1907, inclusive. 



Table III. — Potato crops of Germany for the years 1896 to 1907, inclusive. 





Area cul- 

 tivated 

 (acres). 



Crop yield (bushels of 

 60 pounds). 



Year. 



Area cul- 

 tivated 

 (acres). 



Crop yield (bushels of 

 60 pounds). 





Total crop. 



Per 



acre. 



Total crop. 



Per 

 acre. 



1896 



7,543,444 

 7,580,440 

 7,612,158 

 7,737,845 

 7,953,598 

 8,200,834 



1,187,875,000 

 1,241,040,000 

 1,349,250,000 

 1,414,100,000 

 1,491,220,000 

 1,788,920,000 



157.5 

 163.7 

 177.2 

 182.7 

 187. 5 

 218.1 



1902 



8,008,511 

 7,998,627 

 8,124,648 

 8,196,307 

 8,159,242 

 8, 146, 887 



1,595,490,000 

 1,574,9::10,000 

 1,332,090,000 

 1,773,940,000 

 1,576,220,000 

 1,671,700,000 



199.1 



1897 



1903 



1904 



196.8 



1898 . . 



163.9 



1899 



1905 



216.4 



1900 



1906 



l'93.05 



1901 



1907 



205.08 













Longer periods of time likewise reveal an enormous increase in 

 potato crops, as is shown by the following S-j^ear averages for a 

 period of 20 years: From 1887 to 1891, 999,780,000 bushels; 1892 to 

 1896, 1,230,900,000 bushels; 1897 to 1901, 1,460,540,000 bushels; 1902 

 to 1906, 1,570,530,000 bushels. The increase in the average for the 

 last period over that of the first period amounted to 570,750,000 

 bushels, or 57 per cent, representing a value in excess of $90,000,000. 



