Corn.

The unprecedented increase in wheat acreage led to a decrease in corn acreage, not so great, however, as was at first estimated, there being 2,405,482 acres in 1878 to 2,563,112 in 1877, a decrease of 157,630 acres.

The main corn belt of the State, that is, the sixteen counties having upwards of 50,000 acres in corn, lies almost entirely upon the eastern borders of the State, the bulk in the southeastern counties and thence extending throughout the eastern border counties to Doniphan and Brown in the extreme northeast. The only two counties the southwest are Sedgwick and Butler, the one the thirteenth and the other sixteenth in rank among the sixteen. Miami in the east is the first, Brown in the northeast the second, Cherokee in the extreme southeast the third, Neosho and Labette on either side of Cherokee are fourth and fifth respectively, Johnson, Bourbon and Linn, all upon the eastern border tier, are sixth, seventh and eighth, Jefferson just back of Leavenworth is the ninth, and Montgomery in the south the tenth, Crawford on the eastern border is eleventh, Franklin back of Miami the twelfth, Doniphan in northeast the thirteenth, and Shawnee the sixteenth.

The following tabular statement shows the position and acreage of these counties in 1877 and 1878, the increase this year over last, and the acreage in these same counties in 1872, the different columns being so arranged as to show the rank of the counties in the year quoted:

* Decrease

In 1872, the corn acreage of the sixteen counties was nearly 48 per cent. of the entire acreage of the State. In 1877 it was 41 per cent. and in 1878 41-1/2 per cent., while of the decrease in the State 40 per cent. of it was in these counties. The second belt, taking in counties having an acreage exceeding 40,000 and less than 50,000, is also largely confined to the eastern and central portions of the State, the notable exceptions being Jewell in the northwest and Sumner and Cowley in the southwest. In the twelve counties constituting the second belt, Wilson in the south ranks first, Douglas in the east second, Cowley in the southwest third, Osage central, fourth, Leavenworth, east, fifth, Allen, southeast, sixth, Jackson and Pottwatomie in the northeast seventh and eighth respectively, Sumner, southwest, ninth, Jewell, northwest, tenth, Atchison, northeast, eleventh, and Lyon, central, twelfth. These counties have an aggregate acreage of 536,829 to 577,432, thus showing but a little over 25 per cent. of the decrease of the State. The third belt, 30,000 and less than 40,000 acres, commences in the south at Chautauqua, skips Elk, and then takes in Greenwood and Coffey, makes a new start at Reno in the southwest, and extending through McPherson, Dickinson, Clay and Cloud, embraces the four counties, on the northwestern border, of Republic, Washington, Marshall and Nemaha. These counties of the third belt, have 418,011 acres in corn this year to 502,881 acres last year, 52,841 acres of the decrease being in Washington county alone.

In 1866, Kansas ranked twenty-second among the States in aggregate of corn product, and in 1876 ranked sixth. Late advices from the Department at Washington show Kansas to have ranked fourth last year, being preceded only by Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

The following is the corn acreage of the State by counties for 1877 and 1878, as returned to the State Board of Agriculture by the assessors through the county clerks, together with the increase and decrease during the year:

TABLE showing the Number of Acres of Corn in each County to the Square Mile for 1878, arranged in seven groups of ten counties each, commencing with the highest.