Lower coast gazette., 1910-11-26
King Corn.

THE CROP REPORTING BOARD of the Bureau
of Statistics Of, the U. S. Department of Agrl-
culture has issued under date Of November y,
its reports of the data coming from its various
correspondents throughout the country OF the
general agricultural results of the crop of 1911.
From this we learn that the corn corp OF the
United States for this current year exceeds
three thousand. million bushels, as against
slightly under two and three quarter thousand
millions of bushels last year. The corn crop of
the country was enormous last year and TINS
year turns out greater than ever and now, as
then. adds immensely to the wealth Of the coun-
try. We have no other crop that compares with
it in magnitude nor in general Importance.
Among the corn producing states Illinois
stands, as usual, %preeminent, producing about
Ala millions of bushels, with Iowa coming next
with 344 millions, Missouri coming third with
271 millions, while Nebraska, the state that
sends US most of the corn that we buy from
without our limits, is reported at 2OS millions
of bushels. AS shown above, Missouri as a corn
producer is placed at the head of the so-called
southern states, Texas coming next with ISL
millions and Kentucky following with l04 mil
lions.
The matter of profoundest interest to US is
the status of Louisiana in these comparisons and
we find our crop rated this year at SO millions
of bushels, against 81 millions last year. While
we in Louisiana are thus indicating our own
progress in corn culture, we must not forget
that our sister states are equally alive to the
value of this great crop and Mississippi surpaS-
ses US in production with her reported &C mil
lions of bushels, against Al Millions of bushels
last year, Alabama following closely with 81
millions against 43 millions last year and Ar
kansas SURPRISING all of these with her 60 mil
lions of bushels this year against so millions last
year. Nineteen hundred years ago the inquiry
was made as to what good ever came out of Naz-
areth. The inquiries are even now made at times
as to what good has come out Of Arkansas. A
happy response would be to refer to the SO mil
lions of bushels of our great staple crop and its
increase in one year of 40 per cent.
Now to take up the corn problem in Louisi-
ana we find an increase in our production this
season of about 16 per cent, which is quite a
healthful increase, but doesn't compare with the
65 per cent increase in Mississippi, where we
presume the boil weevil has driven the planters
from their favorite cotton crop over into the
more humble, but more reliable corn crop. Lou
isiana could readily show an enormous increase
in corn production if even a reasonable amount
of attention was paid to the production Of the
crop. In this country, however, and more par
t~icularly in southern Louisiana, the disposition
has always been to give the corn crop a lick
and a PROMISE, the main culture being given to
sugar cane, cotton and rice, the ease with which
we can buy corn rendering its production at
home unnecessary, so long as we have money
with which to buy it. The average production
of corn in the United States this year is esti-
mated at 27.4 bushels per acre and the average
of Louisiana is placed at 1876 bushels per acre.
At the same time we note that way up in Min
nesota &c. bushels of corn are produced per
acre and there the corn growing seasons are so
short that most of the corn crops have to be
gathered before they are ripe. There is no
question whatever but that the average produc-
ton of corn in Louisiana per acre could readily
be brought above that of Minnesota and if this
had been done for the year 1910 our report here
would not have been SO millions as noted, but
a rs per cent. increase. or "a millions of bushels.
In regard to the reported average yields,
Pennsylvania stands highest. and is reported
at Al bushels yield of corn per acre, with a total
production of 65 millions and an increase from
48 millions of bushels the year before. The
Pennsylvania Dutch, who are said to be still
voting for Gen. Jackson, are certainly good far
mers, as their magnificent farm buildings indi-
cate to the travellers over the Pennsylvania
Railroad, as they course through Bucks and
Berks counties. The soils and climate of Lou
isiaha will produce more corn per acre than will
the soils of Pennsylvania and if we could raise
our average production as we should from. 23.6
bushels per acre to al per acre we should at
once Jump in our corn production to over 80 mil
lions of bushels per annum, a figure already
reached by Oklahoma, which produces go mil
lions of bushels in a semi-arid, or if not semi
arid, a rather too arid a climate for the very
best results in corn production.