with special
tariff legislation. The striking opposition of hog raising to sheep
raising is in accord with the universal experience that farmers easily
turn from one to the other. The rapid development immediately following
the civil war represents the restocking of farms and the great expansion
in farm industry so noticeable during that period. The falling off in
numbers of live stock during the last five years is evidently a reaction
from a very apparent over-production in many directions during the
previous ten years. The miles of railroad are shown in thousands, the
population and live stock in millions.

[Chart.]

Chart V. Showing the acreage and yield of Indian corn, wheat, and oats in
the United States, 1862-1897. Pages 84-87.

CHART NO 5.

_Acreage and yield of corn, wheat and oats, 1862 to 1897, in the United
States_

_Description._--This chart is intended to show the fluctuations from year
to year in acres devoted to the three staple crops, together with
fluctuations in the corresponding years in yield of each. Figures on the
right show the number of millions of acres. Figures on the left give
millions of bushels. Continuous lines show the acreage. Dotted lines show
the yield. For convenience of comparison, the line of increasing
population is added. The broken lines indicate what might have been the
consumption of each of these staples within our own country, if the people
had used throughout all the years as much of each as during the five years
of plenty from 1888 to 1892. Lines marked 1 tell the story for corn; those
marked 2 for wheat; and those marked 3 for oats. In comparing the number
of acres as given on the right with the number of bushels as given on the
left, it will be seen that an average yield of corn is assumed to be 25
bushels per acre; an average yield of wheat, 12 bushels; and an average
yield of oats, 28 bushels. The variations of the dotted lines above or
below the continuous line show whether the yield was greater or less than
these averages. The average assumed is evidently too high for the oats.

_Explanation._--Several important facts are shown. First, there has
evidently been a very great increase in the amount of these staple crops
in proportion to the population, with a recent tendency toward reduction.
Second, all three have exceeded the needs for domestic consumption, and at
the same time; while it is evident that the rate o