36 



WHEAT CULTIVATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The final report of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture on the results of the harvest of 1897 contains 

 some interesting observations by Mr. John Hyde, the 

 Statistician of the Department, upon the progress of wheat 

 cultivation in the United States. A special investigation, 

 instituted at the close of the harvest of 1897 showed the area 

 under the cereal in question to have been in that year. 

 39,465,066 acres, and the total production 530,149,168 bushels.* 

 It appears that the area actually harvested was nearly 

 5,000,000 acres more than had been reported to the Depart- 

 ment by its correspondents as under cultivation, and the 

 Statistician observes that as this under-estimate is believed to 

 have been due in large part to under-estimates in previous 

 years, no entirely satisfactory comparison can be made 

 between the acreage and production in 1897 and those in 

 1896 ; but he states that an interesting comparison may be 

 made between the figures for 1897 and those of the Eleventh 

 Census, with which alone they are strictly comparable. 



According to the published results of the Eleventh Census 

 the total area under wheat in the United States in 1889 \^as 

 33»579>5i4 acres, or 5,885,552 acres less than the area devoted 

 to this crop in 1897. The statistics of acreage and production 

 for the two years compare as follows : — 



Year. 



Area. 



Production. 



Yield per acre 

 in bushels. 



Acres. 

 33>579,5i4 



Bushels. 



1889 - 



468,373-968 



13-95 



1897 - 



39,465,066 



530,149,168 



13*43 



* Throughout this article the produce and exports are shown in Winchester bushels^ 

 The Winchester bushel is 0.97 of the Imperial bushel. 



