Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1919-12-05

The assertion that the productivity
of American agricultural is on the de-
cline is shown to be fallacy in an ad-
dress given by Secretary Of Agriculture
Houston before the National Associa-
ton of Commissioners of Agriculture at
Chicago recently. He said in part:
It is true that the production of
some Of the staple commodities has not
kept pace with population, but this in
itself may be of little significance. The
advance in agriculture has revealed it.
self not so much in the expansion Of
the staple commodities as in greater
diversity Of products, in the appear
ance of new crops, in the rise Of minor
crops to large proportions, and the
availability Of supplies throughout the
year. But even in reference to the
staple products as measured by one i'm
portant test there has been a very
per acre Of crop production in the Unit
average rate Of this increase for the
being only one-half of l per cent a year,
but the aggregate results have been
enormous. This upward trend is not
readily observed in yields from one year
to another, owing to the wide yearly
variations caused by the differences in
seasons. But when averages are OBJ
tanned for series Of years it is readily
observed. During the seventies and
eighties, when there was a vast expan-
sion in farm area in the West, and
crops were grown on a more extensive
scale, the tendency of yields was down
ward. Since the early nineties, how
ever, it has been upward. For the 10
years ending with 1890 the average
yield per acre of wheat in the United
States was 11.8 bushels; for the 10
years ending in 1913 the average yield
was 1913 bushels, or an increase of rs
per cent. In the first period the aver
age yield Of corn was 1874 bushels; in
the second 25.S, or an increase Of 10
per cent; of oats, 259 in the first per-
iod; in the second, 1922, an increase of
"a per cent; of potatoes, 1919 bushels
for the first period; and 96.S for the
second, an increase Of nearly 80 l-3 per
cent. Cotton, Notwithstanding the raw
ages of the boil weevil, increased from
an average Of 1859 pounds in the first
period to ITS pounds in the second, an
increase Of 3R per cent. All other
field crops have likewise improved in
yield, the average for the 10 years end
ing in 1918 being 16 per cent greater
than that for the period ending in 1890.
This tendency is general throughout the
Union. It is not due to the shifting OF
production. For example, in the older
State Of New York, the increases for
the two periods were as follows: Corn,
"a per cent; wheat, a. per cent; oats,
II per cent; barley, "a per cent; buck
wheat, 49 per cent; potatoes, 80 per
cent; hay, 10 per cent; weighted aver
age of all, IL per cent. The facts for
New England are even more striking
and significant. For the six states the
weighted average increase for all field
crops in l909-l9lS over 18S1-1890 is &c
per cent, and over 1866-1875, IS per
cent.
"The same tendency holds in most
civilized countries. If we compare the
average wheat yields per acre in the
lOyear period 1S91-l9OO with those in
the 10 years 1901-1910, we find the fol-
lowing increases: United Kingdom,
per cent, or from 30.1 bushels to 31.9;
the Netherlands, 10 per cent, from 27.7
to 33; New Zealand, % per cent, from
24.6 to BIS; Sweden, IA per cent, from
242 to 27.6; Germany, % per cent, from
, 23.6 to 29.1; Ontario, IL per cent, from
1914 to 21.S; France, 8 per cent, from
ISL to 1916; Hungary, per cent, from
17.3 to 17.S; Manitoba, z per cent, from
II to 1872; Japan, over per cent, from
II to 17.4; Roumania, 21 per cent, from
IA to 1863; the United States, 8 per
cent, from 1919 to 1879; India, >16 per
cent, from 81 to lib; the Caucasus, Is
per cent, from 9.5 to l1.2; and Russia,
Il per cent, from 8.3 to 9.5. The yield
per acre is the lowest in countries which
2 have been expanding most rapidly and
where extensive systems of agriculture
with cheap lands and dear labor pre-
vail.