The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-20
VERMONT AS GRAIN
RAISING STATE
Article on the Subject Sent Out BY
the Vermont Publicity Bureau,
/. Recently Established.


When the people of this country con.
slider grain growing, says the Vermont
publicity department, they are quite
likely to think of the fertile fields OF
the great prairie states of the middle
West as the country where the soil "if
tickled with a hoe. laughs a harvest,
and yet that prosaic little pamphlet
isued every month by the United
States department Of agriculture and
known as the crop reporter, sets forth
some facts that surprise many people,
telling as they do in their tables Of
statistics that in the yield per acre Of
staple crops, Vermont surpasses most
Of the great agricultural states Of the
west.
Corn reigns as king of American
crops without a rival, and yet only
four states in the union--and those
four in New England surpassed Yer
mont in 1910 in the yield of corn per
acre. The great corn states last year
were Illinois with l0,609,000 acres;
Iowa with 9,4T3,000 acres; Kansas,
with 100000 acres; Texas, with 81
800, 200 acres; Missouri, with 100000
acres; Nebraska, with 100000 acres;
Oklahoma, with $4,000 acres and
Indiana, with 5,l2l 600 acres. Yer
mont with only $1,000 acres, although
having the largest corn acreage Of
New England occupied an insignificant
position in the size OF its fields, but
another story is told in the bushels
harvested from each acre The yield
OF the big corn states in bushels per
acre was as follows: Illinois, 39l
Iowa, 1868; Kansas, 10; Texas, 20 81
Missouri, 80; Oklahoma, To-; Indiana,
39.3. Vermont's yield was 43 bushels
per acre or more than twice that of
and nearly three times that of
the new state of Oklahoma That re-
port would indicate that there is some
thing besides rocks in Vermont
Vermont's corn crop amounted to e.
ssl 900 bushels last year while that of
Colorado was little less, 2,S46,000
bushels and that of North Dakota, a
little more, 2,996,000 bushels, but
although the aggregate yield was nearly
the same, when compared with Yer
mont acreage Of $1,000, Colorado corn
growers planted $4,000 acres and North
Dakota farmers planted 2l4,000 acres
Thus it will be seen that Vermont's
Weld was twofold that of Colorado,
and threefold that of North Dakota
The price per bushel in Vermont, De-
,ember |, was 66 cents, or nearly twice
that of the banner state, Illinois, |
which was 80 cents The price in the
1ther big corn states was: Iowa, SO
.ents; Kansas, 45 cents; Texas, SO |
,ents; Missouri, Al cents; Nebraska, |
10 cents; Oklahoma, 81 CENTS Indiana,
10 cents. A big yield and big price
made pretty good combination and
that Vermont farmers are |
quite as well situated as their western
1rothers.
Only five states in the union sur
passed Vermont last year in yield per
.ere of oats, two or three being in New
England and the other three in the
irrigated region in the far west. The ,
tates of Iowa and Illinois far exceed
ii Others in acreage of oats and num-
,er of bushels raised, but Vermont
aises Al 8 bushels per acre compared
With 81 s for Iowa and 3S for Illinois.
The yield of Wisconsin is 29s and
hat of Minnesota ST, while that of
North Dakota is only bushels The f.
7ermont acre thus yields almost six
lines the quantity Of oats that the
Worth Dakota acre yields, yet many
rermont boys have gone to the latter
tate to seek their fortune
Onyl six states of the union can
eat Vermont's record in the weld per ,
ere of barley and these are all in the I
tates where irrigation has made
ossible the cultivation of rich soil
hat for centuries has not been titled K
he Green Mountain state raises 81
ushels per acre. Let us see how this
ompares with some of the states that
re supposed to be far IN advance of
UT own as agricultural common
-ealths Nebraska raised Is bushels {
{ barley per acre in 1910; South Da- {
ota raised 1872 bushels; Kansas raised I
5 bushels, while North Dakota !
lised 90 bushels. Surely Vermont