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AGRICULTURE

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from 232,500,000 pounds in 1880 to 309,748,000 pounds in 1895, an increase of 33 per cent. The imports show numerous fluctuations, both in quantities and values. The total value of the imports of wool in 1895 was $25,556,421. The exports of domestic wool show an •enormous increase, with numerous violent fluctuations, especially in recent years. Starting with 191,551 pounds in 1880, valued at $71,987, these exports increased in

1895 to 4,279,109 pounds, valued at $484,463, an increase of 2000 per cent, for quantity and 570 per cent, for value. The exports of foreign wool also show numerous fluctuations. Their lowest value was in 1884— $343,456, and their highest in 1881—$991,407. The consumption of wool in the United States has increased from 356,791,676 pounds in 1880 to 509,159,716 pounds in 1895, an increase of nearly 43 per cent. Table XV.—Production, Imports, Exports, and Consumption of Wool in the United States, by years, 1880 to 1895.

Year ending Production. 30th June. 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895

Pounds. 232,500,000 240,000,000 272,000,000 290,000,000 300,000,000 308,000,000 302,000,000 285,000,000 269,000,000 265,000,000 276,000,000 285,000,000 294,000,000 303,153,000 298,057,384 309,748,000

Imports. Exports of Domestic. Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Pounds. Dollars. Pounds. Dollars. 128,131,747 23,727,650 191,551 71,987 55,964,236 9,703,968 71,455 19,217 67,861,744 11,096.050 116,179 37,327 70,575,478 10,949,331 64,474 22,114 78,350,651 12,384,709 10,393 3,073 70,596,170 8,879,923 16,739 88,006 129,084,958 16,746,081 146,423 19,625 114,038,030 16,424,479 257,940 78,002 113,558,753 15,887,217 22,164 5,272 126,487,729 17,974,515 141,576 23,065 105,431,285 15,264,083 231,042 33,543 129,303,648 18,231,372 291,922 39,423 148,670,832 19,688,108 202,456 30,664 172,433,838 21,064,180 91,858 14,808 6,107,438 520,247 55,152,585 90,676 206,033,906 25,556,421 4,279,109 484,463

American Wheat-Farming. That wonderful agricultural region, extending from the international line on the north to the 37th parallel, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the 100th meridian, and comprising 26 States, produces 76 per cent, of the American wheat crop. This region, which contains only 30 per cent, of the land surface of the country, but embraces 60 per cent, of its total farm area and 70 per cent, of its improved farm acreage, is the greatest cereal - producing region of the world. Besides wheat, it produces 82 per cent, of the total corn crop, 91 per cent, of the total oat •crop, and 83 per cent, of the total hay crop of the United States. The methods pursued in the eastern portion of this region are similar to those used in other parts of the world; but in the north-western portion wheat-growing is carried on on a gigantic scale, and by methods almost unknown anywhere else. The best illustrations of the great or “ bonanza ” wheat farms, as they are called, are found along the Red River of the North, where it flows between the States of North Dakota and Minnesota. The wheat grown in the United States is of two distinct kinds. One is the large-kernel winter wheat of the eastern States; the other is the hard spring wheat. The “ blue stem” or the “Scotch-Fife” are native varieties of the latter kind grown in Minnesota and the two Dakotas. For flour-making this wheat is considered the best in the world. During the season of 1899 the product of hard spring wheat amounted to nearly 250,000,000 bushels, or two-fifths of the entire wheat product of the United States. Of this, Minnesota and the two Dakotas alone produced 200,000,000 bushels. Minnesota is the greatest wheatproducing State in the Union. Her fields in 1899 covered 5,000,000 acres, and she produced nearly 80,000,000 bushels, which is twice the entire production of all Australia, and more than that of Great Britain and Ireland put together. In Minnesota and the Dakotas the farms are devoted almost exclusively to wheat - growing. Many of them contain from 3000 to 10,000 acres. All operations on farms of this size must be carried on upon a gigantic scale. The country is a very level one, making it possible to use all kinds of machinery with great success. As

Exports of Foreign. Quantity. Value. Pounds. Dollars. 3,648,520 637,586 5,507,534 991,407 3,831,836 670,503 4,010,043 664,160 2,304,701 343,456 3,115,339 516,019 6,534,426 759,442 6,728,292 824,770 4,359,731 626,868 3,263,094 460,560 3,288,467 556,473 2,638,123 361,260 3,007,563 403,531 4,218,637 515,470 5,977,407 824,882 2,343,081 294,100

Total Exports. Quantity. Value. Pounds. Dollars. 3,840,071 709,573 5,578,989 1,010,624 3,948,015 707,830 4,074,517 686,274 2,315,094 346,529 3,203,345 532,758 6,680,849 779,067 6,986,232 902,772 4,381,895 632,140 3,404,670 483,625 3,519,509 590,016 2,930,045 400,683 3,210,019 434,195 4,310,495 530,278 6,497,654 915,558 6,622,190 778,563

Retained for Consumption. Pounds. 356,791,676 290,385.247 335,913,729 356,500,961 376,035,557 375,392,825 424,404,109 392,051,798 378,176,858 388,083,059 377,911,776 411,373,603 439,460,813 471,276,343 346,712,315 509,159,716

there are no mountains or swamps, there is here very little waste land, and every square foot of the vast wheat fields can be made productive. The first characteristic of a “ bonanza ” wheat farm is the machinery. The smallest agricultural implement used upon them is a plough, and the largest is the elevator. A hoe or a spade is almost unknown. farms. Bonanza a Between these two there are machines of all sizes adapted to the needs of the particular work. Let us assume the conditions prevailing upon a bonanza farm of 5000 acres, and briefly describe the process of wheat production from the ploughing of the land to the delivery of the grain in the final market. These great wheat farms were established upon new lands sold directly to capitalists by the railroads. The lands became the property of the railroads largely through Government grants, and they attracted capitalists, who bought them in large bodies and at low prices. The improvements made upon them consist of the cheap wooden dwellings for the managers, dormitories and dining-halls for the men, stables for the horses, and sheds and workshops for repairing machinery. Very little of the land is under fence. Since the desirable lands of the country have been occupied, the prices of these lands have advanced slowly, with the result that the big farms are being divided up into small holdings. After a generation or two, if land continues to rise in the market as it has recently, the bonanza farms will become a thing of the past. At present the best of these lands in the valley of the Red River of the North are worth from $25 to $30 an acre. The improvements upon them add about $5 an acre more. A farm is not considered a big one unless it contains from 2000 to 10,000 acres at least. There are, of course, many small farmers, owning from two to five sections (640 acres in each section), but their methods are more like those of the small farmers in the eastern United States or on the continent of Europe. It is necessary to own a large body of land in order to be able to use the machinery and methods here described. It is hard to convey a just notion of the size of these farms. They stretch away as far as the eye can reach in every direction, making it difficult even for the visitor to conceive their size. The distances across wheat fields are