The average value of the corn crop of the State for the past seven years will not vary much from $25,000,000 per year.

The Wheat Crop.

The wheat crop of 1877 was a short one, owing to the ravages of the Hessian fly, and was fully fifteen per cent. below the average. Two or three counties report the crop as low as thirty per cent., or less than one third of an average crop. For the past four or five years the ravages of the Hessian fly have made this crop a very uncertain one for the Pennsylvania farmer, and it is very doubtful whether the crops of these years have, on an average, paid expenses. Late sowing is recommended by some as a remedy, but as much of the injury of the past four or five years has been done in the spring, we cannot expect any very good results from this practice. As this subject is fully discussed elsewhere, by more competent hands, it must not now detain us.

The wheat crops of the past seven years have shown much greater variation than those of corn; the flucture in value has been equal to that of price, as is shown by the following table of the crops of six years:

Compared with the average yield per acre of Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana, that of Pennsylvania may be thus represented on a scale of five bushels per inch :

Average,

PENNSYLVANIA, Z

10.8 bushels.

13.2 bushels.

* Estimated from returns of reporters of the board.

Or by comparing these by States, and on the same scale we have the following as representing their relative production of wheat per acre:

When compared by the average yield per acre for six years, the result is as follows:

This crop exceeds all others in value, and in the neighborhood of large cities or towns is by far the most profitable crop which the farmer can produce; in some of the counties surrounding Philadelphia, the income from this crop exceeds the sum total of all other crops from equal areas, not within freighting or hauling distance. When the commercial fertilizers of the State reach a higher standard, and when our farmers are led, from experience, to place greater confidence in their action, the area available for the profitable production and shipment of hay will be greatly increased. The crops since 1871 have been as follows in total yield, yield per acre and value:

The hay crop of 1877 has been about an average one, but its actual feeding value, owing to the fine condition in which it was harvested, is greater than is represented by the number of tons. The season, though not productive of an extraordinary crop, was such as would very materially increase its quality and value.

The Potato Crop.

The potato crop of 1877, notwithstanding the ravages of the potato beetle, is one of the largest we have had for several years. From the returns of two hundred correspondents, the crop of the State is estimated to be fully five per cent above an average. When sufficiently near a good market to avoid freight expenses, this is one of the most profitable crops which the farmer can produce, and it is also one upon which he may safely expend extra manure and labor with a fair expectation of an adequate return for both.

The crops, since 1870, have been as follows:

When it is remembered that many of our farmers obtain crops of from two hundred to two hundred and fifty bushels per acre, it is evident that there is room for much improvement in the production of this crop.

Tobacco.

In 1850, this crop was hardly worthy of mention, but in the ten years intervening, between this and 1860, its cultivation received an impetus which has since rapidly increased, and the crop of 1877 will, in its aggregate, far exceed that of any other year. Commencing in Lancaster county, it has slowly spread in production to the neighboring counties of York, Berks, and Cumberland, and Lancaster county is now the largest tobacco producing county in the State. This is due not so much to a large acreage, but to improved methods of culture, heavy manuring, and careful preparation of the crop. The profit of the crop depends very much upon the relative proportion of "wrappers" and "fillers," the former being by far the most valuable. By increased care and attention the proportion of the former is greatly increased, and the net proceeds extended in similar proportion. The annual yield for the past few years is as follows:

* Estimated from returns of reporters of the board.