STATISTICS or WHEA.T CULTURE. 



225 



and 50tli parallels, and in the country westward of the Kocky 

 Mountains, one or two more degrees further north. Along the 

 west coast of South America, as well as in situations within the 

 torrid zone, sufficiently elevated above the level of the sea, and 

 properly irrigated by natural or artificial means, abundant crops 

 are often produced. 



The principal districts of the United States in which this im- 

 portant grain is produced in the greatest abundance, and w^here it 

 forms a leading article of commerce, embrace the States of New York, 

 IS'ew Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, 

 Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, "Wisconsin, and 

 Iowa. The chief varieties cultivated in the Northern and Eastern 

 States are the white fiint, tea, Siberian, bald, Black Sea, and the 

 Italian spring wheat. In the middle and Western States, the 

 Mediterranean, the Virginia white May, the blue stem, the In- 

 diana, the Kentucky white bearded, the old red chafet, and the 

 Talavera, The yield varies from ten to forty bushels and upwards 

 per acre, weighing, per bushel, from fifty-eight to sixty-seven 

 pounds. 



It appears that on the whole crop of the United States there was 

 a gain during the ten years ending 1850, of 15,645,373 bushels. 

 The crop of New England decreased from 2,014,000 to 1,078,000 

 bushels, exhibiting a decline of 986,000 bushels, and indicating the 

 attention of farmers has been much withdrawn from the culture 

 of wheat. Grouping the States from the Hudson to the Potomac, 

 including the district of Columbia, it appears that they produced, 

 in 1849, 35,085,000 bushels, against 29,936,000 in 1839. In 

 Virginia there was an increase of 1,123,000 bushels. These States 

 embrace the oldest wheat-growing region of the country, and that 

 in which the soil and climate seem to be adapted to promote the 

 permanent culture of the grain. The increase of production in 

 the ten years has been 6,272,000 bushels, equal to 15.6 per cent. 

 The area tilled in these States is 36,000,000 acres, only thirty 

 per cent, of the whole amount returned, while the proportion of 

 wheat produced is forty-six per cent. In' North Carolina there 

 has been an increase of 170,000 bushels, but in the Southern 

 States generally there was a considerable decrease. Indiana, Illi- 

 nois, Michigan, and Wisconsin contributed to the general aggre- 

 gate under the sixth census only 9,800,000 bushels ; under the 

 last they are shown to have produced upwards of 25,000,000 

 bushels, an amount equal to the whole increase in the United 

 States for the period. 



When we see the growth of wheat keeping pace with the progress 

 of population in the oldest States of the Union, we need have no 

 apprehension of a decline in the cultivation of this important 

 crop. 



The amount of flour exported from New Jersey in 1751, was 

 6,424 barrels. Prom Philadelphia in 1752, 125,960 barrels, besides 

 85,500 bushels of wheat ; in 1767, 198,816 barrels, besides 367,500 

 bushels of wheat; in 1771, 252,744 barrels. Prom Savannah, in 



