XVII. AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, AND FISHERIES AGRICULTURE E. W. ALLEN The Crop Year.'-The season of 1916 was an off one in the production of staple crops in the United States. Although the total acreage in cultivated crops was but slightly less than in 1915, the aggregate yield was about 122 per cent. less than in that year; but prices to producers averaged fully 25 per cent. more, serving to give large money value to the production. The wheat crop was about 40 per cent. less than in 1915, which was the largest of record-over a billion bushels. Spring wheat was less than a half crop, being almost a failure in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Much of it was of poor quality and unfit for milling. The world's wheat crop was short, including that of Canada, Australia, and other important wheatproducing countries; but the surplus in 1915 resulted in a large carry over, which will help out in maintaining the supply. Corn, despite early fears, was nearly an average crop, smaller than that in 1915 but of better quality. The acreage planted in cotton in 1916 was the fourth largest ever recorded, namely, 35,994,000 acres, and the early indications were for a crop of over 14,000,000 bales. Storms and the boll weevil did great damage, reducing the average yield to about 156 lb. per acre and the estimated total production to 11,637,000 bales of 500 ĺb. each. The boll weevil took a heavy toll in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida, and did serious damage in portions of Mississippi, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Tennessee. In southern Mississippi and Alabama the crop was practically a failure. The estimates issued early 1 For the final December estimate of production of the principal crops. see the tables at the end of this department. in October resulted in one of the most sensational advances in prices in the history of the cotton market, sending the quotations up to Civil War prices. Barley, rye, and buckwheat were all below the production in 1915. The potato crop was considerably short of the average and prices were more than double those of 1915. Rice, on the other hand, yielded above the av erage, and hay, the value of which exceeds that of any other farm crop, was a bumper crop. Tobacco gave a record crop, much above the average. The United States produces more tobacco than any other country for which estimates of this crop are made, British India's crop standing second, and that of Russia third. (See also XIII, Economic Conditions.) Increasing Production.-In an address during the year, President Wilson called attention to the possibility and probable need of doubling the production of staple food products of the United States in the next 20 years to meet increasing needs. It would be possible to do this in many instances but often at a large increase in expense of production, since it would require more intensive methods. The possibility of increasing acre yields is large and farming methods to that end are stimulated by high prices. The opportunity is brought out by some comparisons of the highest yields of the year as reported by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the average for the country. The largest yield of wheat reported to the Department was 117 bus. and the second largest 108 bus., as compared with the average for the whole country in 1915 of 17 bus. per acre. The largest yield of oats was 184 bus. and the next largest 166 bus. the average for the United States be-onstration work in the North and ing 38 bus. For white potatoes the West. It inaugurated a market news record yield is 790 bus. and the next service for perishable fruits, vegetahighest 743 bus., the average for the bles, and other farm products, which country being 96 bus. Such prize had been tried experimentally on a yields are rarely commercially prac- limited scale the preceding year (see ticable on a large scale, but there is also Horticulture, infra); and it promuch opportunity for bringing up the vided for studies and demonstrations low yields which at present pull down of methods for obtaining potash on a the average. commercial scale (see "Fertilizers," infra). The Act made available $3,000,000 for additional purchases of lands in the White Mountain and southern Appalachian system for national forests (see also Forestry, infra), and authorized the extension of the Weather Bureau's service to the Caribbean region, Panama Canal Zone, and Alaska. There were increases in funds for the campaign against citrus canker and for work upon the white-pine blister rust, provisions for studies in utilizing domestic raw materials in making colors, and funds for conducting extension work in Hawaii and Porto Rico. The Department's established work in the numerous lines it covers was continued on substantially its existing basis, often with increases in appropriation. Value of Farm Lands and Products. The average value of farm land was estimated by the Department of Agriculture at $45.55 per acre in 1916, as compared with $40.85 in 1915. In recent years the value of farm lands has increased at the rate of about five per cent., or approximately $2 an acre, per year. The increase has been quite general throughout the United States. For the whole country, the percentage in increased value in the four years since 1912 has averaged 25.7. The yearly value of agricultural products of the United States has doubled in the past 15 years; in the same period the population of the country has increased one-third. Up to the close of 1914 the imports of agricultural products into the United States increased more rapidly than the exports of agricultural products. In the five-year period 1897-1901, the imports equalled 44 per cent. of the exports of agricultural products; in 1907-1911 the percentage increased to 64, and in 1912-14 it further increased to 75. Abnormal conditions accompanying the European War have greatly stimulated the exportation of agricultural products. (See also XX, External Commerce of the United States.) The Act carried an unusual amount of new and important legislation. It repealed the Cotton Futures Act of 1914, which had been declared unconstitutional (A. Y. B., 1915, p. 345), and enacted a new act carrying minor modifications. (See also XIII, The Conduct of Business.) A Warehouse Act and a Grain Standards Act were also carried in the Agricultural Appropriation Act. The central purpose of the Warehouse Act is to establish a form of warehouse receipts for certain agricultural products, notably Agricultural Appropriation Act.- cotton, grain, wool, tobacco and flaxThe Agricultural Appropriation Act, seed, which will make these receipts approved Aug. 11, made the largest negotiable as delivery orders or as appropriation ever provided for the collateral for loans, thus assisting in Department of Agriculture, namely, the financing of crops. The integrity $26,948,852. It considerably extend- of the receipts is to be secured by lied and enlarged the functions and ac- censing bonded warehouses, under tivities of the Department. Among conditions which will make the wareother provisions, it materially in-house receipts reliable evidence of the creased the funds available for marketing studies, for the eradication of the Texas-fever cattle tick in the South (see Veterinary Medicine, infra), for combating rabies affecting The Grain Standards Act is destock in the Rocky Mountain States, signed to facilitate the use of more and for the farmers' coöperative dem-uniform grades in handling grain, condition, quality, quantity and ownership of the products they cover, with a system of inspection and grading of the products thus stored. thus enabling the grower to sell his product on its merits, providing an incentive to improvement, and giving greater security to the purchaser through a system of inspection. It marks a new departure in the relation of the Federal Department of Agriculture to business. Under authority of this Act the Secretary of Agriculture has established U. S. standards for shelled corn, effective Dec. 1, 1916. These with slight changes are substantially the same as the permissive standards promulgated in 1914, which have been accepted by many of the grain exchanges. Other standards will be promulgated in time to apply to the next season's crops. The new law does not interfere with the interstate shipment of grain by sample, type, brand or trade name, but prohibits the use of standards other than those prescribed by the Department. A Division of Agricultural meteorology was established during the year in the U. S. Weather Bureau. In addition to continuing warnings of adverse crop conditions, studies will be inaugurated upon the relation of the environmental factors embraced in climate to the growth of plants and the production of crops, that is, the effect of weather and climate upon the factors of plant growth, including determination of the critical periods in the development of plant life. It is planned to carry on this field work very largely in coöperation with the agricultural experiment stations. (See also XXIII, Meteorology and Climatology.) Farm Loan Act.-The numerous movements for the provision of better credit facilities for farmers resulted in the passage by Congress of an act popularly called the "ruralcredit law," which was signed by the President on July 17. It is designed to enable farmers to borrow money on farm-mortgage security at reasonable rates of interest, not to exceed six per cent. and for relatively long periods of time, five to 40 years. Two land bank systems for handling farm mortgages are provided, one operating through Federal district land banks and the other operating through joint-stock land banks. Both systems are to be under the supervision of a Federal Farm Loan Board, which is created in the Treasury Department and composed of the Secretary of the Treasury as chairman ex officio and four members appointed by the President. Both classes of banks are authorized to issue debentures or farmloan bonds of small and large denomination, bearing interest at not to exceed five per cent. per annum, and secured by first mortgages. The country is to be divided into 12 farm-loan districts and a Federal land bank, which may have branches, established in each district. Each of these Federal land banks must have a capital stock of not less than $750,000, open to subscription by anyone for 30 days, the balance thereafter to be purchased by the Government. The Government's stock, however, is not to draw any dividends and will be transferred at par to associations of borrowers known as farm-loan associations, the plan being that ultimately these associations shall own all the stock in these banks. These Federal land banks may loan on first mortgage from $100 to $10,000 for approved purposes, no loan to be for more than 50 per cent. of the value of the land mortgaged and 20 per cent. of the value of the permanent improvements upon it. The loans are to be made through the local farmloan associations or, in the absence of such associations, through approved agents. These associations are composed of farm owners and are to be chartered by the Farm Loan Board on recommendation of the district land banks. The associations must be stockholders in the district land banks in proportion to the amount their members wish to borrow, and each member must take stock in his local association equivalent to five per cent. of the amount he borrows. Each stockholder in an association is liable for the acts of that association up to twice the amount of his stock. proposed loans are investigated and reported upon by an appraiser of the land bank before being made. Loans are to be repaid on the amortization plan, in installments sufficient to meet the interest and pay off the debt within the term of the loan. All The joint-stock land banks comprised in the other system authorized are corporations for lending on farm mortgage security and issuing farm- | The organization of extension work loan bonds which are exempt from has not only afforded the stations taxation. Like the Federal land greater opportunity to concentrate banks, they are under the supervision their efforts on investigation by reof the Farm Loan Board, but the lieving them from the numerous calls Government does not invest in them, for advice and information and for and, subject to certain limitations, popular addresses, which formerly they may loan any amount they wish came to them, but has given a new and for any purpose. Their mort- significance and practical application gages must provide for amortization to their work. Already the need of payments, and, like the district banks, the stations as a supporting agency they can not charge over six per cent. to the extension divisions is being felt, and not more than one per cent. above to provide the new information needthe interest paid on their last issue ed. The revenues of the stations durof bonds. Both classes of banks are ing the year aggregated over $5,285,prohibited from charging any fees or 000, more than $2,000,000 of which commissions other than those author- was received from direct appropriaized by the Act. tion by the states; the states therefore fully meeting the Federal appropriations for this purpose. Their administrative officers and staff members numbered nearly 1,900. Their activity as publishing agencies is indicated by the fact that they issued during the year 1,676 separate publications, aggregating more than 30,000 pages; these were distributed to mailing lists having a total of more than a million names. Soon after the passage of the Act the President appointed to the Farm Loan Board Charles E. Lobdell, a Kansas banker; George W. Norris, of Philadelphia, a student of economic and sociological questions; William S. A. Smith, of Iowa, a farm-practice expert in the Department of Agriculture; and Herbert Quick, of West Virginia, an agricultural editor and writer, all of whom were confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 3. The Board has held hearings over the country preparatory to districting the country and locating the 12 district land banks, which, it is expected, will be established early in February, 1917. At the last census over a third of all farms operated by owners in the United States were mortgaged, representing an aggregate indebtedness of about $3,600,000,000. A large part of the loans were for short periods, usually three to five years, thus requiring frequent renewals with attendant expense. An inquiry in 1913 showed that the interest and commissions averaged by states at from 5.3 to 10.5 per cent., with many individual cases far in excess of these figures. Much benefit is expected from the new loan system, which also offers attractive opportunity for safe investment. The interest manifested in the formation of local farm-loan associations indicates the demand for better loan facilities and promises well for the success of the system. are Among new special additions to the stations was an appropriation of $100,000 for an auditorium and administration building at the New York Geneva station; a new building for agriculture begun at the Delaware College, to cost $280,000; the authorization of an addition to the Agricultural College building at the University of California, to cost $350,000; and a set of buildings for the citrus substation at Riverside, Cal., on its new permanent site, under way at a cost of $125,000. A tract of about 29,000 acres of land in eastern Idaho, adjoining the Targhee National Forest, has been set aside by President Wilson to be used by the Bureau of Animal Industry as an experiment station for sheep, with general range studies in sheep raising on a large scale. The Ohio Station has started a serial publication, known as the Monthly Bulletin, for reporting the work of the different departments of the Station in non-technical form. Among changes in personnel of the Agricultural Experiment Stations.- stations were the retirement of Dr. B. The work of the agricultural experi- T. Galloway as director of the New ment stations has shown very general York Cornell Station, of Dr. E. D. advancement throughout the country. | Ball as director of the Utah Station, Agricultural members, equipment used, exercises in judging live stock and products, and a wide variety of actual demonstrations by some 200 demonstration teams of boys and girls from 10 of the northern states. This furnished a very interesting and striking illustration of the range and utility of this feature of the extension work. and of Prof. R. J. H. DeLoach as director of the Georgia Station. Extension Work.Much progress was made during the year in perfecting the organization of the permanent national system of extension instruction, and the work attained larger dimensions. In more than 1,280 counties, spread over the entire country, extension agents had been provided and were working regularly, and in addition 450 counties had provided in their organization a woman county agent. As a rule the women agents work with clubs of farm women interested in particular home problems or some farm industry such as poultry, dairying, home gardening, etc. The work among farmers in the United States for purchaswomen has proved exceedingly popular and is spreading rapidly. Supporting these local forces, there were about 1,500 extension specialists and administrative officers, maintained by the state agricultural colleges and the Federal Department of Agriculture. The funds for this enormous cooperative enterprise, supplied by the Smith-Lever Act, the Department of Agriculture from its Federal appropriations, the states, counties, and agricultural colleges, amounted for the fiscal year 1915-16 to $4,850,000, and for the year 1916-17 to $6,125,000. The increase came largely from the additional half-million available under the Smith-Lever Act and a corresponding amount provided by the states to meet this annual increase, as required by the Act. Over half the total amount called for in the plans for 1916-17 is to be appropriated for work under the county-agent system, while more than three-quarters of a million dollars is set aside for projects in home economics, and $350,000 for boys' and girls' clubs. The total enrollment in boys' and girls' clubs for the season of 1915 was 105,000 in the 15 southern states and over 209,000 in the northern and western states. The growth in the 1916 season has been quite rapid. In accordance with a special appropriation made by Congress, an exhibit of the boys' and girls' club work was held in connection with the National Dairy Show at Springfield, Mass., Oct. 10-21. The exhibits included products grown or made by the club 454 Marketing Agricultural Products.Some 15 states have established or provided for official marketing departments. In as many more the extension departments of the agricultural colleges are promoting organization for marketing and taking active part in marketing operations. There are now over 1,100 associations of farm ing and marketing. About one-sixth of these are directly coöperative, the balance being governed and profits shared on the basis of capital invested. Many of the latter are being reorganized under new coöperative laws of the states. (See also XV, Coöperation.) One of the most extensive and successful organizations, the California Fruit Growers' Exchange, with its subsidiary Fruit Growers' Supply Co., did a business in 1915 of nearly a half-million dollars. The exchange embraces about 70 per cent. of the fruit growers of the state and comprises 17 district exchanges, 162 shipping associations, and 77 district sales offices. On a non-capital, nonprofit, coöperative basis, it supplies the most comprehensive and efficient marketing service developed for any agricultural crop. Meetings and Expositions.—The International Soil Products Exposition of 1915 was held at El Paso, Tex., Oct. 14-24, under the auspices of the International Farm Congress, the successor to the Dry-Farming Congress. The latter congress held its sessions Oct. 19-21, under the presidency of W. M. Jardine. The International Irrigation Congress was held at the same place, immediately preceding the Farm Congress. A Federal appropriation of $20,000 was provided to enable the Department of Agriculture and the experiment stations to make an exhibit at the Soil Products Exposition, illustrative of farming methods and results in the sub-humid, arid, and semiarid regions of the country. |