OFFICIAL REPORT

OF THE

OHIO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ON THE

Area of Fall Crops, Area and Product of Potatoes, and the Condition of Other Crops

NOVEMBER 1, 1904.

The following report is deduced from returns received from the regular township crop correspondents of the department. The area of fall crops is estimated by comparison with the area seeded last year, as returned by township assessors. The area of potatoes is the estimate returned by assessors, the bushels being computed by the average produced per acre, as reported by the department correspondents.

WHEAT-Area sown last fall as returned by township assessors

66

Sown this fall compared with last year
Estimated area seeded for the harvest of 1905.
Condition compared with an average.
Average date of seeding ...

RYE-Area sown last fall as returned by township assessors.
Sown this fall compared with last year

Estimated area seeded for the harvest of 1905.
Condition compared with an average

1,901,773 acres. .99 per cent. .1,859,534 acres. .87 per cent. .September 26. .34.487 acres. .87 per cent. 29,163 acres. .88 per cent. .71 per cent. ....80 per cent. .59 per cent. assessors..107,013 acres. ..101 bushels. .10,766,707 bushels.

CORN-Prospect compared with an average
BUCKWHEAT-Prospect compared with an average
CLOVER SEED-Prospect compared with an average..
POTATOES-Area planted as estimated by township

66

66

Average product per acre

Total estimated product for 1904.
Affected by rot

APPLES-Product compared with an average
HOGS-Condition compared with an average

Number to be fattened compared with 1903

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS-Farmers using on wheat.

.3 per cent.

.57 per cent.

.93 per cent.

.88 per cent.

..55 per cent.

Wheat seeding was quite generally late, partly because of weather conditions, but most generally in the hope of avoiding damage by Hessian fly, which was expected to make its appearance this season.

The area of wheat seeded in the fall of 1903 for the harvest of 1904 was the lowest in ten years, and the great amount of this that was plowed up in the spring left the area for the harvest abnormally low. The present

estimate of wheat arca for the harvest of next year is based by comparison with the amount originally seeded last fall, and indicates within one per cent. of the same amount, though seventeen per cent. greater than the area that was harvested. The wheat area seeded this fall is so low that even if all remains for the harvest next year, and there is an exceptionally large average produced per acre, the total crop can not reach the amount Ohio has many times produced. The continued low wheat area is not easily accounted for.

The condition of the growing plant is thirteen per cent. below a good average condition. In most parts of the State it has been too dry for proper germination and strong growth. On many fields the plant is thin and a great deal has not yet made its appearance. There has been some re-seeding. If the winter sets in early there is danger that a great deal of wheat that has not attained strong set and sufficient growth will not be able to withstand very rigid weather. While there was much fear of the fly, very little complaint is heard concerning it.

The area of rye shows less than last year, but in this there is no great weight, as this crop varies in area from year to year more than any of the other small grain crops.

The prospect for corn indicates 71 per cent. of an average. In many parts of the State the crop is not husking out as well as was anticipated, and this has caused a slight reduction in the estimated prospect since the last report. Considerable corn was cut too green and much of it is soft and moldy. In the northern part of the State the crop was injured by the frosts that occurred in September, and while there are good and even excellent crops in many sections, the average for the State will be low.

The area of potatoes is very slightly less than the area of last year, but the product per acre is considerably greater, and the total product for the State about a million and a half bushels greater than last year. Very few counties of the State are below the average in potato production, the great majority being above the average. A few localities report rot, but the extent of damage from this source is not likely to be very great.

Hogs show an average condition of 93 per cent., and 88 per cent. compared with last year, as the number to be fattened. Hogs have been sent to early markets. Cholera is reported from several counties, but the disease does not seem to be so general as last year.