Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-10-10
The Greatest Crop of the World.

A QUESTION widely discussed involves
the relative value of the wheat, cotton, tea
and hay crops of the world Which of
these products employ the greatest
amount of the worlds capital? It is said
that hay leads the rest, and the items that
enter into the account, as stated, are some
what startling, and will make Granger's
hair stand on end. Cotton and tea are
local crops, while hay is produced every
where the world over and thus the hay
crop greatly outweighs either of the other
two. The aggregate reported value of all
farm products for 1870 was $2,447, 539, 65S
but as this includes additions to stocks
"betterments," etc, it is probably too
high. Now the hay crop for that year
that is the grass dried and cured for use OF
solids reported at over 27000,000 tons
This, at half the selling price in the large
cities, would amount to $405, 100000, and
is far greater than the aggregate home
value of the cotton crop or any other
crop. But the cured "hay' is but por-
ton of the grass crop. The other portion
is used on the ground, and it requires
considerable calculation to get at the value
so used, even in the toughest way. In
the first place live stock, including horn
ed cattle, horses, sheep, swine, ETC., to the
value Of $1,525 ,000,000 were fed from il
that year. Averaging the lives of these al
five years, we have one-fifth of that sum
as representing the grass fed to them in
1870, viz. $305, 100000 next we find the
value of the animals slaughtered fol
food in that year to be $309,000,000
and as this is an annual product
the whole Of it will for the present be
credited to the grass crop; next we find
that the butter crop of 1870 was SD, 600,
600 pounds, which, at the low average OF
IS cents, amounts to $128, 100000, and this
goes to the credit of grass next we have
235,000,000 gallons of milk, which, aver
aged at the low estimate of ten cents per
gallon, adds $25, 100000 more to the credit
of the grass crop; then we have 100000
900 pounds Of wool, at 25 cents pound,
adding 100000 more, and, finally, 3d.
100000 pounds of cheese, at 10 cents, add
ing over $5,O00,000 to the total of these
credits to the grass crop of 1870, which
aggregates 1887 100000. Now, let us add
the value of the ebay" crop as given above
viz: $405, 900, 000-and we have grand
total for ebay" and the products Of grass
consumed on the ground amounting to
1892, 100000! This is, Of course, subject
to the deduction, as the meat, butter,
milk, cheese, and wool producing animals
consume other food besides grass and hay.
To make ample allowance for this, we de-
duct the entire value of the corn and oat
crops of 1870, estimated at $27G,00O, 600,
and this leaves remainder of 81 ,082,0O
900 to be credited to the hay and grass
crop of that year, when the reported ag-
gregate of all farm products was $2,447,
538,658. If our estimates make even the
toughest approach to accuracy, the value
of that crop was two-fifths of the aggre-
gate value of all farm products, and hence
we may infer that two-fifths of the capital
then invested in agricultural pursuits
was devoted to the grass crop, and this in
the United States equals, in round num-
bers, $4,575,O 100000. From these figures
the deduction is palpable that King Cot
ton is uncrowned and dethroned, and we
May be forced to admit that all ''fesh" and
all else is hay, if not "grass. "-MempAts
Appeol