CHAPTER XI.-SUMMARY FOR ALL CROPS WITH DATA FOR SALES OF SELECTED CROPS. INTRODUCTION. This chapter presents the statistics in summarized form for all farm crops harvested in 1919, as compiled from the returns of the census of 1920, with comparative figures for crops harvested in 1909. Statistics for the individual crops are presented in detail, with data for prior censuses, in Chapter XII, entitled "Individual Crops." There are three groups of products which, while they are produced to a considerable extent on farms and have many of the characteristics of crops, have not been included in the totals for farm crops at the present census, namely, forest products of farms, nursery products, and greenhouse products. The data for these products are presented in Chapter XIII, entitled "Forest Products of Farms, and Nurseries and Greenhouses." ACREAGE, PRODUCTION, AND VALUE OF ALL CROPS. Value of all crops: 1919 and 1909.-The value of all crops harvested in 1919 was $14,755,364,894, as compared with $5,231,850,683 in 1909, these figures indicating an increase of $9,523,514,211, or 182 per cent. The figures representing the total value of all crops are not strictly comparable, however, since the crops included for 1919 are not exactly the same as those included for 1909. The main item in the difference is corn cut for forage, valued at $206,934,650 for the United States as a whole, which is included in the 1919 total but not in the 1909 total (since the crop was not reported to any extent in 1909). This item is partly offset by the incompleteness of the 1919 returns for three crops (emmer and spelt, quinces, and "other berries"), resulting from changes in schedule and definitions. Making due allowance for these crops, however, the 1919 value of all crops would appear to be still too large, by about 1 per cent, for exact comparison with the 1909 value. Basing the comparison on those crops alone for which the data. are strictly comparable (see Table 5), the percentage of increase becomes 179.5, in place of the 182 per cent indicated by the nominal totals. At the several censuses prior to 1920, the value of the crops was reported on the individual farm schedule, in the same way as the acreage and the production. At the census of 1920, however, wherever a unit value. could be used, such as the value per bushel or per ton, the farmer was asked to report the acreage and pro duction of each crop but not the value. To supplement the information obtained from the farmers, the Bureau of Crop Estimates, of the United States Department of Agriculture, secured on special schedules from its crop reporters average values for such crops. These special schedules were tabulated by the Bureau of the Census, and the resulting averages, approved by the Bureau of Crop Estimates as representing a fair average of the farm value per unit, were used in computing most of the crop values presented in the accompanying tables. VALUE OF ALL FARM CROPS, BY STATES: 1919 AND 1909. For some products it was not possible to find any satisfactory unit on which to base a computation of the total value. Values were therefore obtained on the 1920 schedule for vegetables, other than potatoes and sweet potatoes, and for the farm gardens. Acreage of crops: 1919 and 1909.-For most of the crops the number of acres harvested was reported, the value of the crops with acreage reports constituting 92.4 per cent of the total value of all crops in 1919 and 95.9 per cent in 1909. The acreage of the crops with acreage reports in 1919 (exclusive of corn cut for forage) was 348,551,669, as compared with 311,194,516 in 1909, showing an increase of 37,357,153 acres, or 12 per cent, for the decade. The acreage devoted to the production of these crops in 1919 and 1909 constituted, respectively, 69.3 per cent and 65 per cent of the improved land in farms. Acreage reports were secured for all crops except (1) orchard and subtropical fruits, grapes, nuts, and maple sugar and sirup, for which the number of trees or vines rather than the acreage was called for; (2) certain seeds, the acreage of which would largely duplicate the acreage of their respective primary crops; and 3) farm gardens. The acreage of improved land occupied by crops other than those for which acreage reports were secured is thus largely devoted to fruits, and probably amounts to between 1 and 2 per cent of the total improved acreage. TABLE 1.-ACREAGE, PRODUCTION, AND VALUE OF ALL CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES: 1919 AND 1909. [Acreage and value of some of the principal crops, by divisions and states, in Tables 12 and 13.] 1 A minus sign (−) denotes decrease. Per cent not shown when more than 1,000. Excluding 14,502,932 acres reported for corn cut for forage, which is practically all duplicated in the acreage shown for corn harvested as grain. 4 Includes castor beans, horse beans, and "other" beans. Includes broom-corn seed, hemp seed, mustard seed, sorghum seed, sunflower seed, and tobacco seed (1919 and 1909), sugar-beet seed (1919), and anise seed and golden-seal seed (1909). The 1919 figures represent vegetables raised for sale only. 7 In 1909 the value of the products of the farm gardens was largely included in the value of " Other vegetables." TABLE 1.-ACREAGE, PRODUCTION, AND VALUE OF ALL CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES: 1919 AND 1909-Continued. [Acreage and value of some of the principal crops, by divisions and states, in Tables 12 and 13.] 1 A minus sign (-) denotes decrease. Per cent not shown when more than 1,000. Includes chufas, hemp, chicory, ginseng, mint, teasels, and willows (1919 and 1909), and cassava (1919). * Includes limes, tangerines, citrons, kumquats, olives, pineapples, alligator pears, bananas, guavas, loquats, mangoes, Japanese persimmons, pomegranates, and dates (1919 and 1909), sugar apples and sapodillas (1919), and mandarins (1909). Maple sugar and sirup are derived from trees growing on unimproved land, and considerable quantities of hay and forage, especially west of the Mississippi River, are cut from land which has never been plowed, some of which was no doubt returned as unimproved land. Most of the improved land not in cultivated crops nor in orchards or vineyards represents improved pasture land, land lying idle or fallow, land on which there was a crop failure, and land occupied by buildings and yards. Percentage of improved land occupied by crops.-The relative importance of the various crops and groups of crops, as judged by acreage, is shown in Table 2, which gives, for the crops with acreage reports, the percentage of the total improved farm land occupied by each crop or group of crops in 1919 and 1909, and also the percentage of the total acreage of crops. with acreage reports. In 1919 the cereals as a group occupied 43.5 per cent of the improved land; hay and forage (excluding corn cut for forage), 16.2 per cent; and cotton, 6.7 per cent. Of the total reported crop acreage, the cereals occupied 62.8 per cent, hay and forage 23.4 per cent, and cotton 9.7 per cent, the aggregate for these three crops or groups of crops being 95.9 per cent of the total. The average value per acre for the aggregate of all crops with acreage reports was $39.13 in 1919. & compared with $16.13 in 1909. The average valan per acre for individual crops, which are presented Table 4, naturally show a very wide variation. In 1919 they ranged from $15.18 for rye to $247.83 : the group of small fruits. The average value per of the leading crops in 1919 was as follows: Cora, $39.97; wheat, $28.37; oats, $22.51; hay and forg (excluding corn cut for forage), $28.38; cotton cluding cottonseed), $69.80; and potatoes, $196.65, AVERAGE VALUE PER ACRE OF CROPS WITH ACREAGE REPORTS, BY STATES: 1919 AND 1909. 43.5 40.0 44.6 39.3 41.7 17.4 20.6 22.9 20.2 21.9 MAINE 1 Acreage not completely reported. Relative value of the different crops: 1919 and 1909.The leading crops in 1919, as judged by value, were corn, which contributed 23.8 per cent of the total value of all crops; hay and forage (including corn cut for forage), 17.1 per cent; cotton (including cottonseed), 16 per cent; wheat, 14.1 per cent; oats, 5.8 per cent; and potatoes, 4.3 per cent, these crops aggregating more than four-fifths (81.1 per cent) of the total value of all crops for 1919. TABLE 4. PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL VALUE OF CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTED BY PRINCIPAL CROPS, AND AVERAGE VALUE PER ACRE: 1919 AND 1909. [Percentages for principal crops, by divisions and states, in Table 15.] PER CENT OF TOTAL VALUE OF CROPS. CROP. DELAWARE MARYLAND |