521 A2 2d set IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, July 25, 1866. Resolved, That there be printed for the use of the Senate seventeen thousand extra copies of the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1865, and the accompanying documents; and three thousand extra copies of the same for the use of the Department of Agriculture. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, July 19, 1866. On motion of Mr. Latham, from the Committee on Printing, Resolved, That there be printed of the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1865 one hundred and sixty-five thousand copies: one hundred and forty-five thousand copies for the members of this House, and twenty thousand copies for the Commissioner of Agriculture. GIFT GAS, HAZEN BON AUGUST 19, 1945 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTENTS. Report of the Commissioner, Hon. Isaac Newton.......... Report of the Superintendent of Garden, William Saunders.. Report of the Superintendent of the Experimental Farm, George Reid.. Entomological exhibition in Paris, by Townend Glover.... Resources and industrial condition of the southern States, by Daniel R. Goodloe... Popular varieties of hardy fruits, by F. R. Elliott... The peach, its propagation, cultivation, varieties, &c., by Isaac Pullen.. Market products of west New Jersey, by James S. Lippincott- Alsike clover, translated from "Handbook of Swedish Agriculture" by J. Arrhenius. Barley and its uses, by J. M. Shaffer..... Manures and their application, by Simon Brown and Joseph Reynolds, M. D... 486 502 Weeds of American agriculture, by William Darlington, M. D....... Observations on atmospheric humidity, by James S. Lippincott.. ILLUSTRATIONS. 12.-Reine Claude de Bavay, (plum.) 13.-Prince's Yellow Gage, (plum.) 15.-Troth's Early Red, (peach.) 21.-Short-horn bull General Grant, owned by D. McMillan, Xenia, Ohio. 22.-Short-horn cow Louan XXIII, owned by D. McMillan, Xenia, Ohio. 23.-Short-horn cow Jessie, owned by D. McMillan, Xenia, Ohio. 24.-Short-horn cow Prize Flower, owned by D. McMillan, Xenia, Ohio. 25.-Short-horn cow, Louan XXI, owned by D. McMillan, Xenia, Ohio. 26.-Chester county boar Victor, owned by Paschall Morris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 27.-Imported Cotswold ram His Royal Highness, owned by Burdett Loomis, Windsor 28.-Imported Cotswold ewes, owned by Burdett Loomis, Windsor Locks, Connecticut. 29.-Infantado ram Seville, owned by Rollin J. Jones, West Cornwall, Vermont. 30.-Infantado ram lamb Ophir, owned by Rollin J. Jones, West Cornwall, Vermont. 31.-Infantado ram Major, owned by Deardorff, Walter, & Co., Tuscarawas county, REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTure, Washington, D. C., November 27, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to submit to you my fourth annual report, but the first which it has been my privilege to make while the people of our beloved country, from one end to the other, were at peace pursuing their wonted avocations. But the results of the various operations of the department which I am able to lay before you are necessarily exclusive of the States recently in insurrection; the brief lapse of time since the cessation of hostilities, and the imperfect mail facilities of those States, not permitting systematic correspondence by which could be obtained accurate and reliable information from that section of the country. I most sincerely congratulate the country upon the return of peace to our people, and render thanks to Him who doeth all things well for his merciful kindness and manifold blessings; for while one section of our fair country has been laid waste, and her citizens subjected to the devastating consequences of war— their implements of husbandry allowed to rust for want of use, and the earth to rest from yielding its products for the people's support—the other section has exhibited a condition of prosperity and plenty that would seem to ignore (were it not for the absence and loss of some of her best and bravest sons) the existence of a war. While more than a million of the hardy sons of toil have been called from their industrial pursuits to engage in warfare for the preservation of the Union, those at home have applied themselves with redoubled energy; and with the influence of higher wages in calling forth and economizing labor, and the aid of agricultural machinery and labor-saving implements and appliances, the farmer has been enabled to gather an abundant harvest. Thus those engaged in peaceful pursuits have been rewarded, even during the period of a most desolating, war, with liberal wages for their labor and remunerative returns for the products of the farm. The earth, too, has seemed to respond to the increased demand upon its fertility, and has given us, with the aid of the husbandman, an abundance having no parallel in the history of that portion of the country, feeding the army and navy as well as the great mass of people in civil life, and leaving a surplus for exportation to foreign countries, and charitable donations for the alleviation of the suffering people of other nations. While these products have commanded seemingly exorbitant prices, the industrial classes have had constant employment at remunerating wages; nor have these rewards of labor been depreciated or sensibly affected by the return of a vast army to the ranks of industry, or by the emancipation of four millions of slaves. So great are our resources calling urgently for development, that instead of fears of competition from returned soldiers, emancipated slaves, or foreign immigrants, (now flocking to our shores,) there is seen a decided buoyancy in the labor market, with a demand for increase of wages and fewer hours of toil. Not only the necessaries, but even the luxuries of life are therefore easily attainable. How immeasurably preferable is this condition of things for the laboring classes, to a necessity for comparative idleness with lower prices; for low rates would then fail to bring the comforts of life within their control, while, with employment and adequate compensation, scarcely any price can place them beyond their reach. The great aim of the government should be to adopt a policy by which the agricultural, mechanical, manufacturing, and other industrial interests throughout the country should be fostered and encouraged, and the present time would seem most propitious for the initiation of such a policy. The great contest in which we have been engaged is, I trust, forever ended. The courage, strength, and physical endurance of our people has been fairly tested, and, in the providence of God, has been decided for the country. A free republican government has been sustained, and the great problem of the capability of the people for self-government has been solved, and we stand to-day before the world, after the most desperate and persistent conflict that history records, a united and, I trust, a wiser and better people, full of charity for our erring brethren, and gratitude to those who have perilled their lives for their country's sake. The energies of the people are now required to build up the waste places. The results of the war having changed the system of labor in some of the States, wise counsels and wholesome legislation, with just and charitable discretion, will be demanded in directing and dealing with the freedmen. I have no fear of the results, if employers and employed will mutually adapt themselves to the existing state of things; and I believe that a higher state of prosperity than was ever before enjoyed by the people of the South will be ultimately attained. It may be that the system of free labor will not prove favorable to large landed estates; and I am willing to confess my full belief that such a result will be beneficial to the great masses and to the country. The average size of farms in the United States, in 1860, was 199 acres ; almost double the average for Great Britain, which, in 1851, was 102 acres only, notwithstanding the great size of many baronial and aristocratic "holdings "there being no less than 170,814 farms in the kingdom, or considerably more than onehalf of the entire number, having less than 50 acres each. But the average in |