VOL. XIX.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, SEPT. 20,1884.
NO. 38.
CROP ABROAD.
j&b Yield and Acreage of Crops in
England.
The estimate of average yield in an aver-
i^eason and the yield of crops in 1884 for
(tveral districts in each county in Eng-
^nJ, published in the Mark Lane Express,
,ork out for the whole country as follows,
ij bushels per acre:
Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans. Peas.
..wrW yield 28-8 M.2      43.2       31.7      29.4
,r;jinl*vl -.30.3 33 4      39.8       28.0      25.7
These figures show that all the grain and
,jlse crops, except wheat, are under aver-
k^ and there is reason to believe, from
sports of threshings, that the wheat crop
B not equal to the expectations embodied
;3 the estimates made before threshing
k^l commenced. It will be understood
[jut the average yield, as well as that of
;<*!, is based on estimates only, as there
& no means of ascertaining with any ap-
rioach to certainty what the produce of
sops in England has been even after they
kjve all been threshed.
It will be interesting to compare the «s-
umtted yields of the crops for each ot the
iree years ending with 1884', based on re-
ijmscollected by the Mark Lane Express
unnally:
Wheat. Barley. Oats. Beans Peas.
_.___  27.0 34.5 43.4        31.5        28.7
„  "~ 23.4 35.4 43.6       32.4        28.7
^"™"™ 30.3 33.4 39.8       26.0       25.7
Here the superiority of the wheat crop
ud the inferiority of the other crops in
!V<I to those of the previous two years
uv be seen at a glance.
The agricultural returns for Ireland,
sued on August 21, show that there are
aly 68,008 acres of wheat in that country
iis year. This acreage, and about 5,000
ires for the Isle of Man and the channel
jlinds, added to the 2,676,477 acres in
,reat Britain, bring the wheat area in the
Inited Kingdom up to 2,749,485 acres. It
mow confidently stated by authorities
j England that the yield of wheat will be
ader 30 bushels. The Mark Lano Express,
a sn article published on August 25,
joints out that if the produce for Great
Britain should turn out to be 30 bushels
urre the total will be 10,036,039 quarters.
flowing 25 bushels per acre for the rest
,!thekingdom thequantity is brought up
t little under 10,268,000 quarters as an
8 estimate. In the opinion of the
ipress the thousands should be taken off
mccountof the reported resultsof threshes leaving 10,000,000 quarters as the crop
/the year for theUnited Kingdom. "Deleting from this," our contemporary
lids, "1,000,000 quarters fot seed and other
s« on farms, we have remaining 9,000,-
'.') quarters for making into flour, leaving
to import at.least 16,000,000 quarters for
iter's consumption, now probably over
yw,000 quarters. .
The area of the wheat crop in England
ci Scotland, as shown by the summary
the agricultural returns for,, Great
iittio, published on the 19th ult., is
:ich less than it was believerf to be, being
It 2,676,477 acres, as compared with 2,-
M« acres In 1883 and 3,003,960 acres in
i Last year's acreage was unusually
till because of the extreme difficulty of
"Tnginthe autumn of 1882, and it was
orally expected that after such a very
arable seed-time as that of last autumn
ocreage of 1882 would nearly or quite
be reached. It is true that the average
price of wheat got down to 40s. per quarter
before seed-time last summer, and that
was a great discouragement to sowing
wheat; but in spite of that it was believed
that the favorable sowing conditions had
tempted farmers to put in the usual acreage of the cereal. In the failure of this expectation there is food for reflection. The
prices of new wheat have started at 8a. per
quarter less than the prices of last harvest, and it is fully expected that the average price will be nearer 30s. than 40s. per
quarter before seed-time. What will
British farmers do under such circumstances? It will not be surprising if they
reduce their wheat area to 2,000,000 acres.
The unexpected smallness of the wheat
area reduces the estimate of the produce
by at least a million quarters, and as the
best authorities named 11,000,000 quarters
as the probable produce when they sup>
posed the area to be close to 3,000,000 acres,
the figure must now come down to 10,000-
000 quarters, which leaves 9,000,000 quarters available for human consumption,
leaving 16,000,000 quarters to be Imported
in order fo meet a year's consumption in
the United Kingdom. It is true that the
Irish acreage is not included in the returns,
but as that was under 100,000 acres last
year it does not count for much, and it is
allowed for in the altered estimate.
In other respects the returns are not remarkable. There are 2,159,485 acres of
barley, as compared with 2,291,991 in 1883
and 2,255,269 in 1882; 2,892,576 acres of oats,
against 2,975,381 in 1883 and 2,833,865 in
1882; 562,344 acres of potatoes, whereas the
figures for the two preceding years were
543,445 and 541,064, and 69,258 acres of hops,
as compared with 68,016 in 1883 and 65,619
in 1882.
As to live stock,- with the exception of a
small falling off in the number of pigs, as
compared with the number in 1883, though
not as compared with that of 1882, there is
an increase, as the  following table shows:
Cattle. Sheep and Lambs. Pigs.
1882 5,807,491 24,319,7(18 2,510,402
1883 5,962,779 25,068,271 2,617,757
1884 ,£211,127 26,037,217 2,582,323
The returns were collected on the 4th of
June.
 s    Or    s ■
"WHEAT AND OORN.
Five Hundred Million Bushels of the
Former, and 1,800,000,000
of the Latter.
According to the September report of tho
Agricultural Department:
The product of winter wheat is above
the average, and it is generally of good
quality, except where injured by sprouting in the shock. The rate of yield in not
far from an average of 13 bushels per acre.
The results of the harvest of spring wheat
are not yet complete, and the product
cannot be precisely indicated. It is probable, from the reported condition of the
crop already harvested and threshed, that
the aggregate will vary little from 500,000,-
000 bushels. Reports of much higher
figures are sensational and misleading,
and utterly unworthy credence. The general average condition, when harvested, is
98, against 83 last year. The condition is
almost identical with that reported in September 1879, the census crop, which yielded
13 bushels per acre. " The wheat States of
highest condition are California, Wiscon
sin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Kentucky,
Tennessee and Oregon. Those of minor
production show figures higher than the
general average—Iowa, Nebraska and
Kansas standing at 98, Ohio and Michigan
96, Indiana 94, and Illinois 80. The eastern and southern States range from 81 in
Mississippi to 103 in Maine. The corn
crop is in better condition than in any
September since 1880. The general average is 94. It was 84 last September, 83 in
1882, and 60 in 1881. It promises to produce an average yield of 26 bushels for the
entire breadth, or not less than 1,800,000,-
000 bushels. It will make tho largest aggregate quantity ever reported in the history of the crop.
The London agent of the department
says as aresult of statistical investigations,
that the year will not be one of abundance;
that European wheat, though above the
average in product, will be less than the
aggregate of 1882. European importing
countries will need 260,000,000 bushels
above production. European countries
exporting can supply 80,000,000 bushels,
leaving 180,000,000 bushels to be obtained
from other continents. Stocks are not excessive. There is increased consumption
of wheat, and it is the general opinion
that the lowest prices have been reached.
Potatoes and rye are less abundant than
last year.
ly exports of provisions from this country
have recently shown a falling off equal to
the product of 50,000 hogs.
In order that the presidential election
will not interfere with it, the Kansas City
Fat Stock show is changed from October 29
to November 6, to October 25 to November
1.
Canada imported 324,000 barrels of flour
from the United States last year, and 3,-
000,000 bushels of wheat. The tariff on
flour is 50 cents per barrel, and on wheat
15 cents per bushel.
The city of Paris has acquired a lease of
27,000 acres of the low-lying forest of St.
Germain and the adjoining meadows,
upon which it proposes to experiment
upon utilizing the sewage of the capital.
While workmen were recently engaged
in taking off the roof of the old opera
house at Vicksburg, Miss., they found a
twenty-pound parrot shell buried in the
timbers and unexploded. It must have
lodged there during the siege of 1863.
<&mzvixl _izxviSo
Pleuro-pneumonia has broken out near
Cynthiana, Ky.
Mountain lions are playing havoc with
tho cattle in Montana.
Two large barns in Traer, Iowa, were
burned by lightning on tho evening of the
4th inst.
Immense quantities of sweet potatoes
are being shipped from the eastern shore
of Virginia.
Jersey cattle are to be excluded from the
Chicago fair by order of the State Board of
Agriculture.
Abram Eenick, the noted Kentucky
Shorthorn breeder, died in Clark county,
Ky., recently.
A diminished crop of hops and'a brisk
export demand will affect the price chiefly
of the best grades.
In the city of Canton, China, which has
a population of 1,500,000, there is not a
newspaper of any kind.
Twenty-four postage stamps to^each
person was the average sale in the United
States during the past year.
In western New York the apple crop is
the best in the world—there will be over
four millions of barrels harvested.
A specimen of every plant named in the
Bible is said to be growing in the gardens
of the Missouri Botanical Society, near St.
Louis.
A Newburg (N. Y.) man has 200 different
sorts of apples ; grafted on one tree. One
hundred and fifty-seven of them were in
bearing last year.
Since March 1 to date Chicago packers
have slaughtered and salted 1,423,000
hogs, against 1,403,000 for the corresponding period last year.
As compared with a year ago, the week-
Letter from an English Hoosier.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I am a Britisher,prospecting in this great
State of yours, with the intention of locating here or hereabouts, and whilst loafing—that's the proper term for idling,is it
not?—I have spent several happy and I
hope profitable nours, in looking over the
pages of the Indiana Farmer, a journal,I
think replete with information, ability
and profit to us tillers of tho soil. The
gentleman, Mr. George Keith, who kindly
loans me the paper, tells me he could not
do without it. I notice in your leader, on
the future prospect of wheat raising in
India, you quote from Bradstreet, justly
and generally a very high authority on
matters commercial in America, but in
this instance I think "slightly off." In
this, as in most othor questions, our Wm.
Stuart Gladstone's head is level, if he does
not part his hair in the center. "The Select Committee may condemn the proposal, but if" the grand old man thinks it
necessary and pro bono publico, it will be
accomplished. For information, not criticism, was it not a lapsus penntr, when the
London Globe wrote that Joseph of Austria dines from a cut "off" a joint. You
erudite Americans,"you know," are a little
severe on us poor, ignorant Englishmen,
when we feed the Aarmy in thei/east with
Aonions, etc. The most salutary article I
notice in your issue of the 6th inst., and
one most worthy of perusal and which to
my thinking, ought to be read by every
citizen of this great continent, is that on
Brie a brae. I visit no house, or call at
few farms, but the same ideas Aunt Addie
suggests,come to my mind as do those of Mr.
D. L. Thomas, of Rushville. I much regret
to see so many cases of pleuro pnemonia
and hog cholera in this vicinity, when so
good a preventive and cure is manufactured by one of your skilled veterinary
surgeons, by the name of Haas, or something like that, and I have looked in vain
for his card in your widely circulated
pages. I fear the Doctor lacks Yankee enterprise, dses he not? Every farmer in
this country should read, mark, learn and
inwardly digest, your useful remarks on
"Feeding Cows During Drouth,"and "Improvement of the English Dairyj" then
they would have no occasion to import
stock. Apologizing for thus tresspassing,
I am, your grateful and obedient servant,
Loogootee. W. E. D. B.
—Will our correspondent,whom we have
taken the liberty of styling a Hoosier,
please inform us in what respect the Brad-
street article is "off" in its estimate on
wheat raising in India. We hope to hear
from W. E. D. B. again, and will suggest
as a subject his impressions on Indiana as
a farming country and Hoosier farming.
—Eds.