The Worthington advance., 1891-09-03
. FARM NOTES.

''o u'uc 'hloE'notlOh OF special ln~
teress to farmers. In this short article
shall content myself with giving
rev figures from the report IF j. r.
Dodge, statistician of the department
e. Of agriculture.
1.-The season of $780," he tells US,
was very unfavorable to the full per-
fsction of the staple cereals" Whest
was about so per cent IF an average
crop, Corn still less, and oats the poor.
est crop ever reported to tho depart
ment. lie then gives some tables show
Ing the average yield per acre of the
staple cereals for the last ten Years,
aud also the average value per acre for
the same time. Let us look ut these
figures for u few minutes. ~ i
1 find that the average yield of wheat
]" Minnesota for the last ten years is
,12.5 bushels per acre, aud the average
value per was 50 81. Now let US CON-
pare these figures with those of some of
the neighboring states. In Wiscon-
sin. on the east Of US, the yield is
IL bushels per acre, and the average
value $lO.O3. They lave the advantage
of being a little nearer the great mar
kets than ourselves, and the saving on
freight brings their average value per
acre little above our own. The ay-
erage yield in Iowa is 10 6 bushels per
acre, and the average value Der acre
s. So. Here Minnesota is ahead both
IL yield and in value per acre. In d.
kota the average yield is ll9 bushels,
and the value S7.52 per acre. Here,
again, Minnesota is ahead. The aver
age value Fer acre in Kansas is 50 %,
while in Nebraska it falls to Sc 81.
From these figures it viii! he seen that
Minnesota need not he ashamed of her
standing among her neighbors. The
greatest average yield Was IN Colorado,
1875 bushels per acre, with an average
value per acre Of SIG p.
But Massachusetts takes the lead as
to value per acre, he, 8 being $50 ~ with
An average yield of 16 bushels. Why
is it that the sterile hills Of Massachu-
sets will yield over 16 bushels per acre,
while the rich soils of the northwest
yield but II or 13 hu shells. am sure
do not know, but l should not wonder
hit is partly because they cultivate n
much smaller acreage than we d., and
!" have time to prepare the ground
much more thoroughly. In the west We
are apt TO attempt too mach, and in
this way We have to do much Of the
work ont of season, and, which is quite
rs bad, we skim over the ground in Il
hurried, Careless manner aud half do
the work.
TIE states on the Pacific make good
showing; California 12.5, Oregon lG 5,
and Washington II bushels per acre.
The Southern States stand the lowest,
the yield in Mississippi and South
Carolina being but 81 bushels peracre
The yield of wheat in Minnesota for
1890 is estimated at IS, ,356, 900 bushels,
valued ut $3l ,O6S,l7S.
The averate yield per acre for the
whole United States for the last ten
years is about II bushels and the aver
age value per acre $997. In 1881 the
average value of which for the whole
United States was $l.19 per bushel.
but since that time the average has
never been 80 nigh as dollar. There
il more uniformity in the average val
ues than we might suppose. Tie aver
age value for the ten years previous,
from 1870 to 1879, was about 81. .O5; for
the last ten years about 81 cents, d dit
ference of about 8 cents.
In the yield Of corn per acre, as in
wheat, Minnesota stands in the front
rank, the average yield per acre for the
last ten years being 20 6, bushels per
acre, while the average yield for the
whole United States for the same time
is but 24.1 bushels. Many will be sur
prised to learn that the average yield
of Minnesota is higher than that of
Illinois. Mr.. Dodge tells US that the
seven states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska,
furnish about all the surplus corn, and
yet, strange to saw, four out of the
seven of these states fall below Mime
sofa in the average yield per acre. 1 do
not suppose that Minnesota is a better
corn state than Illinois or Iowa; but
the figures show that as corn state it is
not to be despised. Our corn fields are
for the most part small, and are apt to
get more thorough cultivation than
where it is raised in fields of one or two
hundred acres. In the yield per acre
Nebraska stands first, 80 bushels, but
in the value Of the crop she stands
among the very lowest, $7.5s per acre.
The average value per acre for MIME
sofa for the same time is $1O.S6. The
estimated value of the corn crop of
Minnesota for 1890 is $8.94O,OOO, more
than one fourth the value of the wheat
crop of the state. Figures sometimes
tell unexpected stories. Who would
have thought that the little state of
Maine on the bleak Atlantic coast
would have stood first in the value per
acre OF the corn crops, vet such seems
to, be the fact. Tie average yield in
that state is 3l.2 bushels, and the aver
age value per acre $24.25. These figures
are very suggestive. Let US compare
them. Maine, 32.2 bushels per acre,
average value $24.25. Nebraska, 1913
bushels per acre, average value $758.
What is the n after ? Why, simply this;
Nebraska is too far away from the
great markets, while the eastern far
mer has a good market at mis- own door.
In the west we need greater diver
sity OF industries. Our prosperity
would I've furthered immensely by the