The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-11-03
(By David F. Houston. Secretary of s Agricultne.)

Agflculture.)
 The wealth of the farmers of this country has increased so enormously during the three and one-half years of the Wilson Administration as to break all previous records. The to- tai value of the farm products of this country for the last three years of the Taft administration was $27,- i99,00O,0OO, whereas the total value of the farm products for the first three years of the Wilson administration was s30.2O0. .0O0,00a. a gain of three billion dollars, and his in spite of tho fact that the total value of farm products was cut down by the de- crease of over s100, 100000 in the value of our cotton crop in both 191 l. and 1915.
 It is only by reference to our export totals as compiled by the Depart n1ent of Commerce that one can form any. adequate conception of the mag nitude of the gains that have been scored by our Northern farmers dur ing the years just passed. With our wheat exports worth nearly eight times as much as those of 1912 and with values of other staple exports running in many cases hundreds of per cent. higher than those of four years ago. it is clear that our present rural prosperity is unprecedented in { the annals of American agriculture. S The following comparative, figures, sf owing Gin dollars) various export { totals for the fiscal years 1915 and 1912 will serve to indicate the magni- tude of the items that go to swell the grand total which the farmers of this country will put into their pockets this year:
 Wheat, $215, ,5O0, 1000, as against $2S,- 47O,000 in 1912 Ca gain of nearly 800 per cent).
 Wheat flour, sS7,340,0o0, as against 45O,999,000 in 1912.
 ] Barley. bran, middlings. bread. bis suit, buckwheat, s53,0O0. 900, as against $3O,9OO,000 in 1912.
 Total breadstuffs, $435,690, 0,O00, as : against s123. ,000 in 1912 Ca gain of $322.o0o,oo0, or over 300 per cent).
 Bacon, s7s,eoo.ooo, as against s24.- 900, ,0OO in 1912.
 Fresh beef. s2s. s.SSo, ,o0o as against s1.67o.o0o in 1912 Ca gain of 1900 per cent).
 Canned beef ss,35o. 900, as against s1,300,0o0 in 1912.
 Hams and shoulders, $40.200,O00 as against 24,o00.000 in 1912.
 Butter. s3,590,0o0, as against $1,- 46S,000 in 1912.
 Cheese. s7,43o,o00, as against s1,- 4so.ooo Ca gain of nearly 1000 per cent).
 Total meat and dairy products, $291,000,000, as against 156,260,000 in 1912.
 Tobacco (unmanufactured), $53.- 100000, as against s43,250,00o in 1912.
 Fruit and nuts, sae,s0o,ooo, as against s3O.soo, 900 in 1912.
 Vegetables. SIS 5,900,000, as against $6,544,000 in 1912
 Eggs, $6,13O,o00 as against s3.390,- 900 in 1912.
 hu,tful drain upon our national re- sources. Take livestock, for exam pie, of all farm enterprises the one most likely to suffer from excessive export trade. Today, in spite of the enormous increase in the total value of meat products shipped abroad, thSIc di C Ou V 1T IaTInE S9,45S.OOO head of cattle other than milch cows. as against 37,2S0,O00 head in 1912. and 68,047, 900 head of hogs as against z 65,620,000 in 1912.
 One of the most interesting fea- lures in connection with the above figures is the fact that in spite of the howl from the bloody shirt" crowd, to the effect that the Administration is sectional and southern in it's sym pathies and activities the greater part of the current increases in agrfcul- turaI returns COMES FROM CROPS RAISED IN THE NORTH AND WILL GO TO THE FARMERS OF THE NORTH.
 The Administration has done its Best to bolster up the cotton market by offering to loan $100,000,0 ,000 to planters on stored cotton, by persuad- ing the Entente Allies to allow nearly two million bales of cotton to get in- to Germany, and by persuading the southern farmer to cut down his cot- ton acreage and to increase his acre, age of oats, corn. hay, etc, several million acres But while these