The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-27
GRAIN RAISING IN VERMONT
only Four States Raise More Corn to
the Acre.


and yet that prosaic little pamphlet
issued 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 agricul-
tural States of the West.
Corn reigns as king of American
crops without a rival, and yet only
four States of the the Union-and
those four in New England-surpassed
Vermont in 1910 in the yield OF corn
per acre. The great corn States last
year were Illinois with 10,6O9,OOO
acres; Iowa, with 9,473,00O acres; Kan
sas, with 100000 acres; Texas, with
S,S00,0OO acres; Missouri, with $780,
600 acres, Nebraska, with 100000
acres; Oklahoma, with 5,772,OOO
acres and Indiana, with 5,l2l,OO0
acres. Vermont with only $1,000
acres, although having the largest
corn acreage of New England, occup-
les 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 fol-
lows: Illinois, S91; Iowa, 1863; Kan
sas 10; Texas, 20.6, Missouri, 80; Ok
lahoma, 16; Indiana, 1913. Vermonts
yield was AZ bushels per acre or more
than twice that of Kansas, and nearly
three times that of the new State Of
Oklahoma. That report would indi-
cate that there is something besides
rocks in Vermont.
Vermonts corn crop amounted to
2.8S1, 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
Vermonts acreage of $1,000, Colorado
corn growers planted $4,000 acres
and North Dakota farmers planted
214,000 acres. Thus it will be seen
that Vermonts yield was twofold that
of Colorado and threefold that OF
North Dakota The price per bushel
in Vermont, December /, was &C cents,
or nearly twice that OF the banner
State Illinois, which was 80 cents.
The price in the other big corn States
was: Iowa. 80 cents; Kansas 40
cents. Texas, GO cents; Missouri, "A
cents; Nebraska, SO cents; Oklahoma,
81 cents: Indiana 40 cents. A big
yield and a big price made a pretty
good combination and indicates that
Vermont farmers are quite as we'll sit
uated as their Western brothers.
Only five States in the Union sur
passed Vermont last year in yield per
acre of oats, two or three being in
New England and the other three in
the irrigated region of the Far West
! The States of Iowa and Illinois far eX'
coed all others in acreage of oats and
number OF bushels raised, but Yer
mont raises AS bushels per acre
compared with 37S for Iowa and 50
for Illinois. The yield OF Wisconsin
/ is 29S and that of Minnesota, ISL
while that of North Dakota is only z
( bushels. The Vermont acre thus
yields almost six times the quantity
1 of oats that the North Dakota acre
yields. yet many Vermont boys have
/ gone to the latter State 10 seek their
fortune
only six States of the Union can
beat Vermonts record in the yield per
acre of barley and these are all in the
/ States where irrigation has made pos
I sible the cultivation of a rich SOL
that for centuries has not been titled
The Green Mountain State raises 81
bushels per acre. Let us see how this
compares with some OF the States that
are supposed to be far in advance OF
our own as agricultural common
wealths. Nebraska raised 1875 bushel;
of barley per acre in 1910; South Da
kota raised 49, bushels; Kansas rails
ed IS bushels, while North Dakota
raised 5.5 bushels. Surely Vernon
does not need to be ashamed of these
comparative figures, Only clever
States raise more rye per acre thar
Vermont. Such States as OHIO
Indiana, Michigan. Wisconsin, Kan
sas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Nortl
Dakota rank lower in the number o
bushels they can raise per acre.
It may be that the poets have no
sung much about buckwheat but buck
wheat pancakes served with maple
syrup on a winter morning ought Il
be an inspiration to the most etherea
poet that ever wrote a stanZa OF verse
And Vermont is surpassed by onl,
two States in the Union in bushels o
buckwheat per acre.
Vermont is not a wheat growing
state and doesn't pretend to be. Las
wear we sowed only 1000 acres o
spring wheat. but only one State II
the whole country raised more bushel
per acre. our record being 2.93 bushel
North Dakota which leads with l,22O
600 acres, raised only five bushels pc
acre. the Vermont yield being almos
sixtimes as great Kansas raised s.
bushels per acre. The yield IN othe
Western States was. South Dakota
1913 bushels Nebraska, 1879 bushels
Minnesota, 16 bushels, Wisconsin IS
bushels: Iowa, 209 bushels. Tina
is a good thing to tell the Westerner
who talk about the sterility OF Ven
mont farm lands.
The average yield of bushels o
notatoes per acre in Vermont is 10
and only seven States can show
better record. Maine, with its fam
Gus new lands of Aroostook County
titled according to modern scientlh
methods. is far and away the leadinI
potato growing State, but down in tn
=, -. IL. % Uarrnput NAV n