The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-07-08
Where Are Cereals Grown.

ta1en place IN this respect within the
E,zst few years? Some data in regard
30 the production and distribution OF
cereals. rs well as the capacity of differ
eBtseCtions for advance an this direction
have lately been published by the
Bureau of Statistics.
IL appears that the total product OF
sereals in the United States Increased
% ten years from l. $50, 900, 900 bushels
IA 1868 to 2,l78,000, 600 in 1877, and
1902, 900. 900 in 1873. OF the whole
National supply, only three per cent.
vas exported in 1868. ten per cent. in
1875, while in the twelFemonth ending
June 30, 1879, the shipment reached
The unprecedented figure of 246, 100000
bushels, or nearly eleven per cent OF
the entire Weld The relative proper
ton of each crop retained for cOnsump-
ton is, IN the case of corn 933 per cent,
of barley - per cent, OF rye 80 per
cent, If wheat IS per cent, OF oats 80
per cent. while of buckwheat the whole
amount produced is used at homp As
% barley, we observe that, although
less than ten per cent is sent out of the
country. nearly all Of il Is moved from
places of its growth, and about one
third from the States in which it is pro-
duOed. Corn is necessarily consumed
mainly in the neighborhOod of its Pro-
duction. and a survey of these statistics
shows that, though maize is grown in
every part of the country and consti-
suites iivs-eighths of the whole cereal
harvest, less than a fourth of the
States have a corn supply exceeding
their raquirements. Nearly all the
available surplus is found in a single
group, The river States of the West
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois. Iowa, Ne
5raska, Kansas and Missouri.
The so-called lake States-Michi-
gan, Wisconsin, aud Minnesota
have barely enough corn for
nome consumption, which is less per
capita BY fourth than the average of
1lls United States. Their comparative
deficiency in this cereal IS best seen in
The G1er of swine returned, which
varies e. 30 to li0 reported for the corn
belt. The proportion Of cattle, too, in
ahe same sections was rs G6 to 81 The
immense preponderance of corn grow
lnw in the seven central States of the
great valley is attested by the product
1f siNty-rwo bushels per head-this, too,
an a region less exclusively agricultural
aud more conspicuous Tor manufactures
-than any other section OF Che West or
South.
The seat of corn production was, we
1eed not say, formerly in the South. As
late as 1859. fifteen slave States pro-
Iuced 81 per cent. OF the whole crop.
In the year 1860, the corn-growing States
were ran scd Is follows Illinois, Ohio,
Missouri. Indiana, Kentucky and Ten
nessee; but ten years later Iowa had
dislodged Ohio from the second place
la 1873 illinois and Iowa retained the
drst and second rank; Missouri and
Kansas both passed Ohio, and then fol-
bowed the other States mentioned in
Che same order rs in 1860. The crop of
all the Southern States was only TO-
600, 600 bushels larger in 1877 than it was
the wear before the war, whereas that
Of the other States has risen in the
same period from 400,0O0,00O TO 9OO.-
l00.O0O bushels The center of pro-
1uction has moved, however. more
rapidly westward than northward.
Amid al these changes the rela-
thc Al!eghanies aud the Mississippi
River has declined by very SOW de-
Erees, and viii continue for time to
rgcede slowly, until the lands of the
Missouri Valley are more fully occupied.
Already, however, the proportion of the
corn crop grown in the Mississippi
zone reaches nearly forty per cent. 1t
IS also clear from the latest statistics
that the increase of cattle feeding in
Indiana and Illinois threatens to rela-
gate to the country west of the Missis-
sippi the business of shipping corn in
grain. Thus the most bulky form in
which this cereal can be exported is
that in which it is tending TO be sent
.he greatest distances to market an
apparent violation of the plainest prin-
ally arises from the necessities of print
l.vc agriculture, which lacks capital to
buy the requisite animals for the con-
1enS2tion and conversion of grain.
Of our wheat crop the Atlantic coast
now produces only seventeen per cent,
against thirty per cent. IN the year be-
fore the war. The central belt has
fallen in the same period from tiftv-four
per cent. to forty per cent, while the
trans Mississippi region has risen from
fourteen per cent. to fOrty-two per cent.
The surplus is now produced only in
i've States lying between the Ohio River
and the lakes, and in Minnesota, Iowa,
Missouri. Kansas. Nebraska, california
and OREGON. The portions of our own
country requiring part of this surplus
comprise New England the Middle
States and the Cotton States. New
England produces only three-tenthS of
. buSheI for each iniiabitant; the Middle
States grow three and one-third bush
els. or a little more than half the guam
Gtv necessary for full supply; the
Southern, Atlantic and Gulf States al
most as much, while Kentucky and
Tennessee, with nearly six bushels are
self-supporting. OF course the require
ment of wheat is not the same, per
capita. in all sections. Ia the South
there is large quantity OF corn used,
by whites as wellas negroes. and taking
the twelve States from Maryland to
Texas together, four bushels per head
rs deemed the mean amount consumed.
While the westward progress of corn
production has of late been very slow,
The tendency of the wheat centgr to
move westward is still active, and may
continue 50 for many years, as wheat
culture subdues the high plateaus and
mountain valleys between the Missouri
and the Pacific Ocean We must bear
In mind that wheat can be grown from
: 5. Oao to 5, 000sfeet above. .the level Of
maize culture. For washiugton Terri
sarV. for inseance. from which maize
= s.;,. :; ,-;,.,,,.s n, ~ ,it,,,,,{,d comma