The Parker post., 1912-12-14
CROP VALUES
ARE ENORMOUS
ANNUAL REPORT OF SECRETARY
OF AGRICULTURE SHOWS PAST
YEAR TO BE MOST PRODUCT
I'VE OF ALL PREVIOUS YEARS.

The sixteenth annual report of the
Secretary of Agriculture, made public
Monday, begins with a series of short
paragraphs in which some important
agricultural truths are strikingly ex-
pressed. 1t proceeds with the Gus
tomary review of the agricultural pro-
duction and foreign trade of the year
and contains some results of an in
vestigation into local conditions af-
fecting agricultural credit, the usual
condensed statements of the work of
the bureas during the year, and
vements of the department during
the Is years throughout which Sec
retary Wilson's service has extended
Most Productive of All Years.
Most productive of all agricultural
years in this country has been 1912,
declares the report. The earth has
produced it's greatest annual dividend.
The sun and the rain and the ferti-
| lity of the soil needed not the human
controversies, but kept on working
in cooperation with the farmers ef-
forts to utilize them. The reward is
high general level of production.
the Nations larder, crammed the
storehouses, and will send liberal sup
plies to foreign countries.
The prices at the farm are general
| ly profitable and will continue the
prosperity that farmers have enjoy
ed in recent years. The total crop
and of any preceding year that the
total production of farm wealth is the
| highest yet reached by half a billion
dollars. Based on the census items
of wealth production on farms, the
grand total for 1912 is estimated to
be 1882, 100000
During the last 16 years the farmer
has steadily increased his wealth pro-
duction year by year, with the ex-
ception of 1911, when the value de-
clned from that of the preceding
year. If the wealth produced on
farms in 1899 be regarded as 100, the
wealth produced 16 years ago, or in
! 1897, is represented by "a, and the
wealth produced in 1912 by 202.1.
During the 16 years the farmers
wealth production increased 141 per
cent.
The wealth production on farms
during the last 16 years reached the
grand total of more than $105, ,O00,-
100000. This stream of wealth has
poured out of the farmers horn of
plenty, and in Is years eQualed about
three-quarters of the present national
wealth.
Chief Crops.
A field half as large again as Italy
or nearly as large as either France or
Germany is the area of this country's
cornfield. This years corn crop is
the largest ever produced in this
country, and reaches the staggering
amount of 3,169,OOO,0O0 bushels. In
value, too, the corn crop OF this year
is the highest On record, and reaches
The fabulous amount of $1,759 900, 900.
This crop is worth to the farmer 20
per cent more than the average corn
crop of the previous five years.
Hay has returned to it's old place
} and the crop that is second in value
| The year was most productive for
grass and hay, and the harvest of hay
is measured by 72,425, 900 tons. This
is Is per cent above the average
crop of the previous five years. The
value of this years hay crop is
1851 100000, and has never been
equaled. It exceeds the five-year av-
erage by Il pr cent. The Importance
of this crop to the farmer is better
realized when it is observed that its
value is greater than that of the cot
ton crop and nearly as great as the
combined values of the wheat, tob-
acco, and potato crops.
The report states that there is
general agreement throughout the
country that the cotton crop will be
next to the largest one in production
and is likely to exceed the average
crop of the five preceding years. 1t
is estimated that the lint cotton of
1912 may be worth $735 900, 900, an
amount that exceeds that of 1911, al
though the crop of that year was
much greater than this years.
The seed out of the cotton crop of
this year is estimated to be worth
about $117 900, 900, or over per cent
more than the five-year average, but