398 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [august, 



the farm has also advanced materially. The financial condi- 

 tion of the grain-raiser of the North- West, the general 

 farmer of the Middle West, and the cotton planter of the 

 South is better than ever before. Instead of having to market 

 the grain as soon as harvested and the cotton as soon as 

 picked, the producer is now in a position to hold his crop 

 and market it to the best possible advantage. Financially 

 the farmer has become independent. The rural free delivery 

 and the telephone have placed him in touch with the world, 

 and he is as familiar with current events as the city dweller." 



The following statement of prices, taken from Bulletins 

 No. 39 and No. 87 of the United States Bureau of Labor, 

 shows that the prices of the leading farm products have prac- 



tically doubled in the fourteen years. 



1910, 1896, 



Product. March. March. 



s. d. s. d. 



Corn, per bushel ... 27 12 



Wheat, per bushel ... 4 " 27 



Cotton, per pound ... ... ... ... 08 04 



Oats, per bushel 110 010 



Rye, per bushel ... 34 1 6 



Barley, per bushel 2 11 13 



Hay, timothy, per ton 71 o 47 6 



Hops, per pound ... ... ... ... 15 °4 



Potatoes, per bushel ... 14 09 



Flax seed, per bushel ... ... ... ... 811 3 8 



Cattle, choice to extra steers, per 100 pounds 34 2 17 9 



Hogs, heavy, per 100 pounds ... ... ... 44 3 16 3 



Butter, dairy, per pound ... ... ... 14 010 



Eggs, per dozen ... ... ... ... I 1 06 



Mr. Smoot also furnished a number of tables showing the 

 exchange value of these products expressed in terms of other 

 commodities purchased by the farmer. 



SUMMARY OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS* 



Experiments with Grass and Clover. 



Manuring of Grass Land (Rothamsted Expt. Stat., Rept., 1909). — 

 The Park grass plots have been mown for hay under, in most cases, 

 the same systems of manuring, for fifty-three years. This report con- 

 tains the weights of the crops in 1909, and a determination of the 

 botanical composition of the herbage. In January, 1907, 2,000 lb. per 

 acre of ground quicklime was applied to one-half of a number of the 

 plots, and it is stated that great contrasts are now to be observed 



* The summaries of agricultural experiments which have appeared in the present 

 volume have been as follows : — Cereals, April ; Cereals and Root Crops, May ; 

 Root Crops, June ; Root Crops and Potatoes, July. The Board would be glad to 

 receive for inclusion copies of reports on inquiries, whether carried out by agri- 

 cultural colleges, societies, or private persons. 



