AGRICULTURE AND THE WAR
The significance of the strides made in agricultural productivity by which Mr. Hoover's food campaign was made possible and successful is brought out in the report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 1918:
"The efforts put forth by the farmers and the agricultural organizations to secure increased production can perhaps best be concretely indicated in terms of planting operations. The size of the harvest may not be the measure of the labors of the farmers. Adverse weather conditions and unusual ravages of insects or plant diseases may partly overcome and neutralize the most exceptional exertions."
ACREAGE UNDER CULTIVATION
"The first year of our participation in the war, 1917, witnessed the Nation's record for acreage planted—283,000,000 of the leading cereals, potatoes, tobacco, and cotton, as against 261,000,000 for the preceding year, 251,000,000 for the year prior to the outbreak of the European war, and 248,000,000 for the five-year average, 1910—14. This is a gain of 22,000,000 over the year preceding our entry into the war and of 35,000,000 over the five-year average indicated. Even this record was exceeded the second year of the war. There was planted in 1918 for the same crops 289,000,000 acres, an increase over the preceding record year of 5,600,000. It is especially noteworthy that, while the acreage planted in wheat in 1917 was slightly less than that for the record year of 1915, it exceeded the five-year average (1910—14) by 7,000,000; that the acreage planted in 1918 exceeded the previous record by 3,500,000; and that the indications are that the acreage planted during the current fall season will considerably exceed that of any preceding fall planting."
YIELDS OF PRINCIPLE CEREALS
"In each of the last two years climatic conditions over considerable sections of the Union were adverse—in 1917 especially for wheat and in 1918 for corn. Notwithstanding this fact, the aggregate yield of the leading cereals in each of these years exceeded that of any preceding year in the Nation's history except 1915. The estimated total for 1917 was 5,796,000,000 bushels and for 1918, 5,638,000,000 bushels, a decrease of approximately 160,000,000 bushels. But the conclusion would be unwarranted that the available supplies for human food or the aggregate nutritive value will be less in 1918 than in 1917. Fortunately, the wheat production for the current year—918,920,000 bushels—is greatly in excess of that for each of the preceding two years, 650,828,000 in 1917 and 636,318,000 in 1916, and is next to the record wheat crop of the Nation. The estimated corn crop, 2,749,000,000 bushels, exceeds the five-year pre-war average by 17,000,000 bushels, is 3.4 per cent. above the average in quality, and greatly superior to that of 1917. It has been estimated that of the large crop of last year, approximately 900,000,000 bushels were soft. This, of course, was valuable as feed for animals, but less so than corn of normal quality. It should be remembered, in thinking in terms of food nutritional value, that, on the average, only about 12 per cent. of the corn crop is annually consumed by human beings and that not more than 26 per cent. ever leaves the farm. It should be borne in mind also that the stocks of corn on the farms November 1, 1918, were 118,400,000 bushels, as against less than 35,000,000 bushels last year, and 93,340,000 bushels, the average for the preceding five years. It is noteworthy that the quality of each of the four great cereals—barley, wheat, corn, and oats—ranges from 3 to 5.4 per cent., above the average.
"The tables printed below may facilitate the examination of these essential facts:
ACREAGE OF CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Figures refer to planted acreage.] | |||||
| Crop | 1918, subject to revision | 1917, subject to revision | 1916 | 1914 | Annual average 1910—1914. |
| CEREALS | |||||
| Corn | 113,835,000 | 119,755,000 | 105,296,000 | 103,435,000 | 105,240,000 |
| Wheat | 64,659,000 | 59,045,000 | 56,810,000 | 54,661,000 | 52,452,000 |
| Oats | 44,475,000 | 43,572,000 | 41,527,000 | 38,442,000 | 38,014,000 |
| Barley | 9,108,000 | 8,835,000 | 7,757,000 | 7,565,000 | 7,593,000 |
| Rye | 6,119,000 | 4,480,000 | 3,474,000 | 2,733,000 | 2,562,000 |
| Buckwheat | 1,045,000 | 1,006,000 | 828,000 | 792,000 | 826,000 |
| Rice | 1,120,400 | 964,000 | 869,000 | 694,000 | 733,000 |
| Kafirs | 5,114,000 | 5,153,000 | 3,944,000 | ||
| Total | 245,475,400 | 242,810,000 | 220,505,000 | [7]208,322,000 | [7]207,420,000 |
| VEGETABLES | |||||
| Potatoes | 4,113,000 | 4,390,000 | 3,565,000 | 3,711,000 | 3,686,000 |
| Sweet Potatoes | 959,000 | 953,000 | 774,000 | 603,000 | 611,000 |
| Total | 5,072,000 | 5,343,000 | 4,339,000 | 4,314,000 | 4,297,000 |
| Tobacco | 1,452,900 | 1,447,000 | 1,413,000 | 1,224,000 | 1,209,000 |
| Cotton | 37,073,000 | 33,841,000 | 34,985,000 | 36,832,000 | 35,330,000 |
| Grand Total. | 289,073,300 | 283,441,000 | 261,242,000 | [7]250,692,000 | [7]248,256,000 |
[7]Excluding kafirs. | |||||