1902 46,202,424 14.5 670,063,008 63.0 422,224,117
1903 49,464,967 12.9 637,821,835 69.5 443,024,826
1904 44,074,875 12.5 552,399,517 92.4 510,489,874
1905 47,854,079 14.5 692,979,489 74.8 518,372,727
Domestic Exports,
including Flour,
Fiscal Years
Year. beginning 1st July.
Bushels.
1890 106,181,316
1891 225,665,812
1892 191,912,635
1893 164,283,129
1894 144,812,718
1895 126,443,968
1896 145,124,972
1897 217,306,005
1898 222,694,920
1899 186,096,762
1900 215,990,073
1901 234,772,516
1902 202,905,598
1903 120,727,613
1904 44,112,910
1905 ..
The acreage and production of wheat have steadily
increased. The acreage in Indian corn, the great American
crop, reached its highest in 1902, 94,043,613 acres, and its
production its highest figure in 1905, 2,707,993,540 bushels.
TABLE XXXIV.--Acreage, Production, Value, Prices, Exports and Imports
of Oats in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel, Farm Value
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents. Dollars.
1890 26,431,369 19.8 523,621,000 42.4 222,048,486
1891 25,581,861 28.9 738,394,000 31.5 232,312,267
1892 27,063,835 24.4 661,035,000 31.7 209,253,611
1893 27,273,033 23.4 638,854,850 29.4 187,576,092
1894 27,023,553 24.5 662,036,928 32.4 214,816,920
1895 27,878,406 29.6 824,443,537 19.9 163,655,068
1896 27,565,985 25.7 707,346,404 18.7 132,485,033
1897 25,730,375 27.2 698,767,809 21.2 147,974,719
1898 25,777,110 28.4 720,906,643 25.5 186,405,364
1899 26,341,380 30.2 796,177,713 24.9 198,167,975
1900 27,364,795 29.6 809,125,989 25.8 208,669,233
1901 28,541,476 25.8 736,808,724 39.9 293,658,777
1902 28,653,144 34.5 987,842,712 30.7 303,584,852
1903 27,638,126 28.4 784,094,199 34.1 267,661,665
1904 27,842,669 32.1 894,395,552 31.3 279,900,013
1905 28,046,746 34.0 953,216,197 29.1 277,047,537
Domestic Exports,
including Oatmeal, Imports during
Fiscal Years Fiscal Years
Year. beginning 1st July. beginning 1st July.
Bushels. Bushels.
1890 1,382,836 41,848
1891 10,586,644 47,782
1892 2,700,793 49,433
1893 6,290,229 31,759
1894 1,708,824 330,317
1895 15,156,618 66,602
1896 37,725,083 893,908
1897 73,880,307 25,093
1898 33,534,264 28,098
1899 45,048,857 54,576
1900 42,268,931 32,107
1901 13,277,612 38,978
1902 8,381,805 150,065
1903 1,960,740 183,983
1904 8,394,692 55,699
1905 .. ..
Producing as the United States does so much more
than its people can consume, its exports form a large
percentage of some of the crops, as Table XXXVI. shows.
Large portions of some of these crops, like Indian corn and
oats, are exported in the form of animals and animal products
(meats, lard, hides, &c.). The hay crop is almost entirely
used in this way, and the tendency is to convert more and
more of these crops into these higher-priced products. Still,
the time is far distant when domestic consumption will come
anywhere near overtaking domestic production, especially of
wheat and the other cereals. The certain extension of acreage
with the growth of demand and price, the increased use of
agricultural implements, and the improvement of methods will
be sure to keep up a large surplus for export for many years to
come. The Department of Agriculture has found that for
home use there were required per head 5.5 bushels of wheat,
28.6 bushels of Indian corn, and 10.7 bushels of oats, the
computations being made from the figures for population,
production and exports for 1888-1892; in 1905, 6.15 bushels
of wheat and wheat-flour, 28.59 bushels of Indian corn and
corn-meal. The following number of acres in these crops
was required, therefore, to supply the home demand for
1888-1892:--0.43 of an acre in wheat, 1.1.5 acre in corn, and
0.43 acre in oats per head of the population. Taking the year
TABLE XXXV.--Acreage, Production, Value, Prices and Exports of Indian
Corn in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel,
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents.
1890 71,970,763 20.7 1,489,970,000 50.6
1891 76,204,515 27.0 2,060,154,000 40.6
1892 70,626,658 23.1 1,628,464,000 39.4
1893 72,036,465 22.5 1,619,496,131 36.5
1894 62,582,269 19.4 1,212,770,052 45.7
1895 82,075,830 26.2 2,151,138,580 25.3
1896 81,027,156 28.2 2,283,875,165 21.5
1897 80,095,051 23.8 1,902,967,933 26.3
1898 77,721,781 24.8 1,924,184,660 28.7
1899 82,108,587 25.3 2,078,143,933 30.3
1900 83,320,872 25.3 2,105,102,516 35.7
1901 91,349,928 16.7 1,522,519,891 60.5
1902 94,043,613 26.8 2,523,648,312 40.3
1903 88,091,993 25.5 2,244,176,925 42.5
1904 92,231,581 26.8 2,467,480,934 44.1
1905 94,011,369 28.8 2,707,993,540 41.2
Domestic Exports,
including Corn-
Farm Value Meal, Fiscal Years
Year. 1st Dec. beginning 1st July.
Dollars. Bushels.
1890 754,433,451 32,041,529
1891 836,439,228 76,602,285
1892 642,146,630 47,121,894
1893 591,625,627 66,489,529
1894 554,719,162 28,585,405
1895 544,985,534 101,100,375
1896 491,006,967 178,817,417
1897 501,072,952 212,055,543
1898 552,023,428 117,255,046
1899 629,210,110 213,123,412
1900 751,220,324 181,405,473
1901 921,555,768 28,028,688
1902 1,017,017,349 76,639,261
1903 952,868,801 58,222,061
1904 1,087,461,440 90,293,483
1905 1,116,696,738 ..
1890 as an illustration, this gave a surplus area in wheat of 11,264,478
acres, of 2,648,404 acres in Indian corn, and of 238,162 acres in oats.
TABLE XXXVI.--Percentage of Crops Exported. Averages for Period
1878-1905.
Annual Average.
Crop. 1878-1882. 1888-1892. 1894-1896. 1896-1904. 1905.
Wheat 27.84 17.68 15.96 29.9 7.99
Indian Corn 4.82 3.49 5.39 6.4 3.66
Rye 10.30 .. 12.21 19.5 ..
Oats .37 .80 2.22 3.7 ..
Barley 1.55 .. 12.96 12.15 ..
Potatoes .37 .. .30 0.31 ..
Cotton 72.80 66.79 73.60 66.31 61.55
Tables XXXVII. and XXXVIII. give the number, total value and
average price of farm animals in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1906.
TABLE XXXVII.--Number and Value of Farm Animals in the United States,
1880-1906.
January 1 Horses. Mules.
Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 11,201,800 $613,296,611 1,729,500 $105,948,319
1890 14,213,837 978,516,562 2,331,027 182,394,099
1900 13,537,524 603,696,422 2,086,027 111,717,092
1906 18,718,578 1,510,889,906 3,404,061 334,680,520
Milch Cows. Other Cattle.
January 1 Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 12,027,000 $279,899,420 21,231,000 $341,761,154
1890 15,952,883 352,152,133 36,849,024 560,625,137
1900 16,292,360 514,812,106 27,610,054 689,486,260
1906 19,793,866 582,788,592 47,067,656 746,171,709
Sheep. Swine.
January 1 Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 40,765,900 $90,230,537 34,034,100 $145,781,515
1890 44,336,072 100,659,761 51,602,780 243,418,336
1900 41,883,065 122,665,913 37,079,356 185,472,321
1906 50,631,619 179,056,144 52,102,847 321,802,571
Total Value of
January 1 Farm Animals.
1880 $1,576,917,556
1890 2,418,766,028
1900 2,228,123,134
1906 3,675,389,442
TABLE XXXVIII.--Average Value of Farm Animals in the
United States on 1st January, 1880-1906.
Milch Other
Year. Horses. Mules. Cows. Cattle. Sheep. Swine.
1880 $54.76 $61.26 $23.27 $16.10 $2.21 $4.28
1890 68.84 78.25 22.14 15.21 2.27 4.72
1900 44.61 53.56 31.60 24.97 2.93 5.00
1906 80.72 98.31 29.44 15.85 3.54 6.18
After the Civil War the number of horses increased and prices
declined. In 1893 the number of horses reached 16,206,802 (an
increase of over 5,005,002 or 44.6% over the number in 1880),
and in 1906, 18,718,578. The average farm price of horses
increased from $54.75 in 1880 to $74 in 1884, after which there
was a decrease to $31.51 in 1896, followed by rise to $80.72 in
1906. The extension of street-car lines, and the substitution
of cable and electric power for that of horses, the use of
bicycles and, later, of automobiles, and the improvement of
farm-machinery, in which horses are less and less used as
power-producers and steam is more common, have been factors
in decreasing the demand for these animals. The fluctuation
in prices of mules has been parallel to that for horses.
The returns for milch cows show an increase throughout
the period 1880-1899 in every year, with the exception of
1895-1899, after which there was a steady rise in numbers.
For the first ten years the numbers increase 32.6%, and from
1890 to 1899, 2%. The total value of milch cows increased each
year until 1884, then decreased until 1891, with a gradual
increase until the end of the period. The farm price of milch
cows rose from $23.27 in 1880 to $31.37 in 1884, then fell
to $21.40 in 1892, after which there was a steady increase
to $31.60 in 1899, and afterwards a slight fall, $29.44
being the average farm value on the 1st of January 1906.
No marked changes in the numbers of sheep have taken place.
During the period 1880-1890 there was an increase in numbers
amounting to about 8.8%. After 1893 there was a rather steady
decrease, with fluctuations amounting to a marked depression
after 1894. This industry is very susceptible to adverse
influences, and felt keenly a depression in the price of
wool. The increase began again in 1898, and in 1903 the
