12 BULLETIN 182, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
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 planted 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, amounting 
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. 
Calculated on} Area grown 
Countries. a totalarea |foreach 10,000 
of 100 acres. | inhabitants. 
Acres. Acres. 
GOLIMATNY aioe Nee eieo cee eels < om ee era a eis ine oc cin Sas ieee ato oe) eee a 5.4 158. 88 
RATIS GEL ee Se co Sete lyre etnies oe te eae ens Rs See 3.9 110. 70 
TEA babe he SERS ee oie Soe ee eae eae Pe a a BOm SMO Rr esto ty Ad Caled: 1.8 75. 60 
GUAT COB Seen 0 Sere C ERY. SSE eS 2 er SAN ere Neo ne oe ey oh 2 SENS gay = nine ae 2.9 97.36 
Greasritamandt relan GAs. eno. ot st ene ane Stk ica, ey ie ee eee 1.6 30. 64 
LR DISCS yd ds Sn Sa Res Fin ih Ae CS Ls fe a rc, ARM Pie yg RE te ak he Pe 7 81.54 
WOIMTGECESTALCS eee oes Skee cae or eit AR oe erate Sr ttelete ae ait 1 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. 
Crop yield (bushels of Crop yield (bushels of 
0 ds). 60 pounds). 
Area cul- ep pounds) Area cul- P ds) 
Year. tivated. |= ase Year. (uae 
(acres). Per acres). Pan 
Total crop. oral Total crop. acre. 
[SOG ne 7,543,444 | 1, 187,875,000 A TeS a LOO Zee eee 8,008,511 | 1,595,490,000 | 199.1 
AROVAuE wie ase |: 7,580,440 | 1,241,040, 000 1635°7"||PAO0S AS ee eee 7,998,627 | 1,574,930,000 | 196.8 
Teele ene 7,612,158 | 1,349, 250, 000 LED 0|| LOOSE Ae Lee 8, 124,648 | 1,332,090,000 | 163.9 
1 SOGMAN hors: 7,737,845 | 1,414, 190,000 182 7a LOD See = eae 8,196,307 | 1,773,940,000 | 216.4 
OOO RS Noe « 7,953,598 | 1,491,220, 000 187.5) || 1906 Mer ee eee 8,159,242 | 1,576,220,000 | 193.05 
OQ MR see 2h 8, 200, 834 | 1,788,920, 000 21821 | 190 eee s eee Sse 8, 146, 887 | 1,671, 700,000 | 205.08 
Longer periods of time likewise reveal. an enormous increase in 
potato crops, as is shown by the following 5-year 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. 
ag ee 
