The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1911-12-07
Show the Acreage, Value and
other Factors Of Its
Cultivation.

Of the United States, collected at the
Thirteenth Decennial- Census, April
70, 1910, are contained. in an official
statement issued today BY Director
Durand, of the Bureau OF the Census,
department of Commerce and Labor.
It is based on tabular Summaries pre-
pared under the direction, of DR.. lie
Grand Powers, chief staustican for
agriculture in the Bureau of the Cen.
sus.
The statistics presented cover
acreage, production, and value for
the crop year 1909 as compared with
1893. In making comparisons be-
tween the two censuses the data for
acreage are the most significant, az
changes in the area planted to a given.
crop are due largely to broad econ
omic tendencies, which are fairly well
indicated by returns Of one year out
OF ten. The production. however,
nuctuates from year TO year in ac-
cordance with current conditions Of
rainfall, temperature, etc, SO that a
comparison between one deecnnial
year and another may not show the
true general tendencies. Such tenn
porary annual Quotations in produc-
ton also affect current prices and
consequently the aggregate value Of
the crop for any given year. OF
course there are broad tendencies
with respect to values in addition to
such temporary Quotations. but these
broad tendencies are not always fully
indicated by decennial statistics.
General Summary Tor United States.
The land in oats increased from
29,54O,OOO acres in 1889 to S5,159,ooO
in 1909, an Increase of 5,61s,oOo acres,
or nineteen per cent. The percentage
of increase in production, however,
was only little over one-third as
great, the actual production amount
ing to 1907, 129,OO0 bushels in 1909,
as compared with 94S,3S9,OOO in 1899,
an increase of 6S,74O,OOO bushels, or
G,8 per cent The average production
per acre, doubtless by reason of tenn
porary weather conditions. decreased
from 31.9 bushels to 2S.6 bushels. on
the other hand. the value of the oats
crop increased enormously. from
S217,O99, 10000 to $414,692, 900. an in
crease Of nearly $2OO,OOO,OOO or 81
per cent. The average value of oats
per bushel thus increased from
twenty-three cents to forty-one cents,
or about seventy-eight per cent.
The land in oats Increased from
16.145,0OO acres in 1879 to 2S,32i,Ooo
in 1889. 29,54o,OOO acres in 1899. and
s5,159,999 acres in 1903. The acreage
in oats in 1909 exceeded that in 1879
by about lis per cent, whereas the
population of the country during the
same period increased little over
eighty per cent. The production OF
oats in 1879 was 4O7,S59,OCO bushels,
as compared With ,OO7, 129 900 bushels
in 1909.
Distribution OF Acreage.
OF the total of 35,15s.217 acres in
oats in 1909, >th two North Central
divisions contained over three-fourths,
ll,225,o2l acres lying in the eastern
section. and 15,7lO,495 acres lying in
the western section The South At
lantic, East South Central, and West
South Central divisions together con-
tanned 3,516,12S acres; the New Eng
land and Middle Atlantic divisions,
2,742,307 acres; and the Mountain
and Pacific divisions. /, 965.266 acres.
Changes in Acreage of Oats, by Di.
visions.
Conspicuous changes in the acreage
OF oats occurred in the two North Cen
trail divisions and the Mountain divi-
sion. In the two North Central divi-
sions the land in oats rose from e.
l96,s79 acres in 1899 to 26,9S5,51G
acres in 1909, an increase Of 4,73S,637
acres, or sSer twenty-one per cen.
an increase of s,6OO.737 acres being
found in the West North Central di-
vision and1,1S79OO acres in the East
North Central division. Especially
large increases in acreage are to be
noted in North and South Dakota
In the Mountain division the land
in oats increased 1904 acres, or
1924 per cent, the largest actual in
creases occurring in Idaho, Montana,
and Colorado. The increases in the
New England, South Atlantic, East
South Central and Tactic divisions
were comparatively uuimportant in
absolute amount, although in the
Pacific division the percentage OF in
.y - go anora,eo oe InS .