AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.
In the following table the aggregate of the corn, wheat, oats, potato, and hay products of Kansas, for the years 1860 and 1865, and for each year thereafter, is given. The figures, prior to 1875, are compiled from the reports of the United States Department of Agriculture; those following, from the reports of the Secretary of our own State Board of Agriculture:
| Year. | Corn, bushels. | Wheat, bushels. | Oats, bushels. | Potatoes, bushels. | Hay, tons. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | 6,150,727 | 194,173 | 88,325 | 296,325 | 56,232 |
| 1865 | 6,729,236 | 191,519 | 155,290 | 276,720 | 123,082 |
| 1867 | 8,159,000 | 1,250,000 | 236,000 | 314,000 | 162,000 |
| 1868 | 6,487,000 | 1,537,000 | 247,000 | 850,000 | 118,000 |
| 1869 | 16,685,000 | 2,343,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | 250,000 |
| 1870 | 17,025,525 | 2,391,197 | 4,097,925 | 2,342,988 | 490,289 |
| 1871 | 24,693,000 | 2,694,000 | 4,056,000 | 3,452,000 | 687,000 |
| 1872 | 46,667,451 | 3,062,941 | 6,084,000 | 3,797,000 | 728,000 |
| 1873 | 29,683,843 | 5,994,044 | 9,360,000 | 3,000,000 | 977,000 |
| 1874 | 15,699,078 | 9,881,383 | 7,847,000 | 1,116,000 | 530,000 |
| 1875 | 80,798,769 | 13,209,403 | 9,794,051 | 4,668,939 | 1,156,412 |
| 1876 | 82,308,176 | 14,620,225 | 12,386,216 | 5,611,895 | 809,149 |
| 1877 | 103,497,831 | 14,316,705 | 12,768,488 | 3,320,507 | 1,228,020 |
| 1878 | 89,323,971 | 32,315,358 | 17,411,473 | 4,525,419 | 1,507,988 |
| 1879 | 108,704,927 | 20,550,936 | 13,326,637 | 3,521,526 | 1,551,321 |
| 1880 | 101,421,718 | 25,279,884 | 11,483,796 | 5,310,423 | 1,534,221 |
| 1881 | 80,760,542 | 20,479,679 | 9,900,768 | 2,055,202 | 2,122,263 |
| 1882 | 157,005,722 | 35,734,846 | 21,946,284 | 5,081,865 | 2,293,186 |
| 1883 | 182,084,526 | 30,024,936 | 30,987,864 | 6,812,420 | 6,002,041 |
| 1884 | 190,870,686 | 48,050,431 | 20,087,294 | 7,861,404 | 7,105,132 |
| 1885 | 194,130,814 | 10,859,401 | 30,148,060 | 7,398,465 | 7,685,340 |
In presenting these figures it is worthy of note that while, as already stated, the U. S. census reports for 1880 show that Kansas ranked as the twentieth State in population and the sixth in its corn product, it was also the eleventh wheat-producing State of the Union, the eleventh in its oats product, sixteenth in barley, tenth in rye, eighth in hay, and seventeenth in potatoes. Thus the rank of Kansas, in agricultural products, was far ahead of her rank in population.
THE AREA OF KANSAS.
The total area of Kansas is 52,288,000 acres. In 1865 only 243,712 acres of this vast territory was under cultivation; in 1870 the area aggregated 1,360,000 acres; in 1875, 4,749,900 acres; in 1880, 8,868,884 acres; and in 1885, 14,252,815 acres. In the following table I have compiled figures showing the area under cultivation, and the value of the crops produced in Kansas each year, from 1865 to 1885, inclusive:
| Year. | Acres in crops. | Value of crops. |
|---|---|---|
| 1865 | 243,712 | $5,347,875 |
| 1866 | 273,903 | 6,023,849 |
| 1867 | 397,622 | 8,129,590 |
| 1868 | 562,120 | 10,467,163 |
| 1869 | 855,801 | 15,807,550 |
| 1870 | 1,360,000 | 18,870,260 |
| 1871 | 1,322,734 | 17,335,120 |
| 1872 | 1,735,595 | 15,498,770 |
| 1873 | 2,530,769 | 28,311,200 |
| 1874 | 3,179,616 | 30,842,630 |
| 1875 | 4,749,900 | 43,970,494 |
| 1876 | 5,035,697 | 45,581,926 |
| 1877 | 5,595,304 | 45,597,051 |
| 1878 | 6,538,727 | 49,914,434 |
| 1879 | 7,769,926 | 60,129,780 |
| 1880 | 8,868,884 | 63,111,634 |
| 1881 | 9,802,719 | 91,910,439 |
| 1882 | 11,043,379 | 108,177,520 |
| 1883 | 11,364,040 | 106,707,529 |
| 1884 | 13,011,333 | 104,297,010 |
| 1885 | 14,252,815 | 92,392,818 |
VALUE OF FARM CROPS.
The value of the farm crops of Kansas, for the five years ending with 1870, aggregated $59,298,414; for the next succeeding five years their value was $135,958,214; for the next five years, $264,334,824; and for the five years ending with 1885, the farm crops of Kansas aggregated in value $503,485,316. Thus during the past twenty years the farmers of Kansas have produced crops whose aggregate value reached the enormous sum of $963,076,768.