Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-12-16
IOWA FIRST IN
hay AND FORAGE.
CENSUS REPORT SHOWS STATE
LEADING IN ACREAGE AND
PRODUCTION.
VALUE 50 MILnluNS
State Was Second 70 New York IN.
Acreage In 1899 and Second to
Kansas in Production, Pass"
ing both In Decade.
VALUE SO MILLIONS

ing both IN Decade.
Washington, D. c., Dec. 15.-Sta.is-
tics relative to the hay and forage
crop OF the United States, collected
at the Thirteen Decennial census.
April Is. 1910, are contained in all Of
fetal statement issued today by Direc-
tor Durand OF the bureau Of the CEN
sus, department Of commerce and Ia
NOR.
Increases and Decreases in Acreage.
The acreage OF hay and forage in
the United States has increased from
81, 691, 900 in 1899 to h 71,915 900 ill
1909, q gain Of 1O,224, 900 acres, or 1876
per cent, The production has riselA
by a greater proportion, increasing
from 79,252,O0O to 97.147,O00 tons,
gain OF 17,896,00O tons, OF 22.G per
cent. The value has increased by a
percentage very much greater still,
rising from $4S4,255,00O in 1899 to-
$s22,476,00o in 1909, a gain Of 69.8 per
cent.
Hay and forage Is an important
crop in all sections of the country, but
it is relatively much mere important
in the north and west than in the
south. OF, the total acreage in the
United States in 1909, four-seyenths,
41,801,1 acres, was found in the two
North Central divisions. In 1899 there
was less variation among the divisions
in the average yield; the highest
yield in that year was in the western
division corresponding to the Mount
ain and Pacific divisions of 1900
which reported an average of 1.52
tons per acre. Among the individual
states in 1909, Utah ranked first with
an average of PSI tons; in 1899, New
Mexico ranked first with 2.24 tons per
acre. VI
Kinds Of Hay and Forage.
OF the several kinds of hay and for
age, timothy and clover mixed ranked
first in acreage, quantity, and value.
There were in the United States 49,
$4,000 acres of this kind of hay, of
which the west north central division
reported 285 per cent, the east north
central 1872 per cent, and the middle
Atlantic states 24.7 per cent.
Wild, salt, or prairie grasses"
ranked second in acreage and fourth
in value Of the 16,S68,000 acres, Is
per cent. was reported from the west
north central division.
Timothy alone" ranked third in
acreage and second in value. The
total acres numbered 14,675,000, of
which the east north central division
reported 42.2 per cent, the west north
central division 26.8 per cent, and the
middle Atlantic division 1917 per cent.
Alfalfa ranked fourth in acreage
and third in value. OF the 4,702,O00
37.S per cent was reported for the
west north central division, .37.3 per
cent for the mountain division, and
14.9 per cent for the Pacific division.
Grains cut green ranked fifth both
in acreage and in value. OF the total
acreage, 4254,OOO, more than half, was
found in the Pacific division.
'Other tame or cultivated grasses"
ranked sixth In acreage and Sc 7enth
in value. The 100000 acres We're !
found mainly n the New England, !
the middle Atlantic. the east south
central and the east north central
divisions, the percentages Of the total
for these divisions being, in order
1852. 22.3, 1871, and 1913.
Coarse forage ranked seventh in
acreage and sixth in value. OF the
1908, 900 acres, 1876 per cent were re-
ported from the west north central
division, 1858 per cent from the west |
south central division, and 1868 per
cent from the east north central divis-
ion
Glover alone ranked eighth in
both acreage and value. OF the g.
$4,000 acres, 47.8 per cent were re-
ported from the east north central
division, 22.4 per cent from the west |
north central division, and 11.8 per
cent from the east south central divis-
ion.
'Millet or Hungarian grass ranked |
ninth in acreage and In value. More |
than one-half of the 1,113,000 acres
was reported from the west north
central division.
Ranking Order Of Leading States.
The ten leading states In the order |
of acreages of all hay and forage in
1909 and 1899 were:
19O9-Iowa, New York, Nebraska,
Kansas, Minnesota. Missouri, South |
Dakota, Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsyl-
vania.
1899-New York, Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Min
nesota, Ohio. Nebraska Indiana.
II In production the rank was as fol-
lows:
19O9-Iowa, New York, Minnesota,
Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin. Ohio,
Illinois, California, Missouri.
1S99-Kansas, Iowa, New York,
Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio. Nebraska, Wisconsin.
The average yield per acre in 1909
for the whole country was 1.35 tons
and 1.2S in 1899. The highest aver !
age yield shown in 1909 was in the
Pacific division, with an average of |
1.73 tons per acre; the lowest average
yield was in the three southern divis-
ions, each of which averaged only a |
little over one ton per acre.
Iowa's acreage for 1909 was $685. |
1876, the production was 7,823,1o1 tons
and the value was $50 ,360,225.