The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-01-18
1915 STATE CROP
REPORT ISSUED
Biz Yields Are Returned in North
ern Part of Wisconsin.
AGRICULTURAL HEAD REPORTS
General Average for Oats is Given at
52.03 an Acre-AIfaIfa in Nearly
Every County Averages 81
Tons Per Acre.

Madison.-It will be well worth while
for anyone interested in the state to
write to the Wisconsin commissioner
of agriculture for copy of the 1913
crop report. 1t gives the crop yields
by counties. and anyone will be sur
prised with the splendid yields in all
portions of the state. Those who have
discounted the fertility of the cheap
land districts of the upper counties
will find in this report enough TO con-
vince them that they have been mis-
taken in the past. On the whole there
is little difference in the crops of the
various portions of the state, and as
between the northern and southern
portions one will be inclined to the
belief that the northern portion has
the best Of it on the returns.
The report shows the average yield
for wheat to be 25.4 bushels per acre
for winter wheat and 23.5 for spring
wheat This is about so per cent
greater than the average for the whole
country. In wheat the upper counties
make a good showing, ranging from
twenty to thirty bushels il the various
counties. Those making the smaller
showing are those that are just start
ing, and there is little reason to be-
lieVe that there will be much differ
ence between them when farming gets
on larger and more stable basis in
the various counties.
The corn crop of the state lacked
maturity, but the volume was good.
The report shows an average of forty
five bushels to the acre-such as it
was, and it may be said that Wiscon-
sin was only one Of the many middle
western states where much Of the
corn did not reach maturity. Forty
five bushels per acre is an abnormal
yield and that may be one of the rea-
sons why the corn did not ripen bet
ter. In this crop. too, the upper coun-
ties make a good showing-one that
would have been enticing had the frost
waited until the usual time. From
the above figures it is apparent that
for silage the 1915 crop is not to be
too heavily discounted.
The oats crop was an immense one
all over the stae. The general aver
age for the state is given as 52.03 bush
els per acre. The northern counties
range from about forty to sixty bush
els per acre, with more than normal
weight everywhere Individual fields
ran up to 100 Bushels to the acre
In rye the state average is given
as 203 bushels per acre. In this crop
the upper counties lead the state ma
terially, many of them ranging from
twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre.
The barley crop of the state is given
as 377 bushels per acre In this crop
the northern counties show up well,
those that have really made start in
farming producing from thirty-five to
forty-five bushels per acre. 1t is well
known that the cheap lands of the
upper counties are splendidly suited
to barley production.
The average of clover hay in the
state is given as % tons, which COM
pared with the hay returns of the
country is good but is far below what
the yield should be in Wisconsin. 1t
is we'll known that the clover hay crop
could be increased materially if the
farmers would plan to get more or
ganic matter into the soil.
Alfalfa is reported in nearly every
county in the state with a general
average of 81 tons per acre. The up
per counties average we'll with other
Sc
ties having the highest yields are St.
Croix county, in the north, and Grant
county, in the southern portion of the
state, with an average of five tons per
acre in each case. Anything upward
of three tons per acre in a state where
the crop is just starting on a large
scale is good-much more valuable
than the crop in the far West, where
it is generally supposed to be most
profitable.
From the above it will be seen that
1915 was a good year in Wisconsin
When the great pasturage of the sea-
son is taken into consideration it is
probable that the state never had a
better year. We have materially led
the averages of the country, and even
those of the best states of the middle
West. And we have done it without
materially affecting the fertility of the
soil-in fact, the practices that have
been common to Wisconsin farmers in
the past are in a large way the reason
that we have our present yields.