Winter Wheat.

In respect to increase in acreage of winter wheat, the year 1878 has proved a remarkable one, the ratio of gain exceeding thirty-four per cent.; or in other words, there were upwards of one third more acres of winter wheat in 1878 than in 1877, five acres in 1878 to every one acre in 1872. In the preparation of maps and diagrams we have worked out many interesting results as to the location of the belts of the different grains, and shown as they be in colors, will prove not only of much interest but practical value as well. The winter wheat belt, that is, the ten counties having upwards of 40,000 acres in winter wheat, lies mainly in the southeast, commencing at the northern and eastern border of Dickinson, thence to Saline, and crossing through McPherson, spreads both east and west, embracing Reno, Harvey, Butler, Sedgwick, Sumner, Cowley, and skipping Chautauqua, ends with Montgomery. With the single exception of the latter-named county, the main belt is embraced in counties that adjoin, and one could readily ride over the entire area without leaving its confines.

The following tabular statement shows the acreage in the ten leading counties in 1877, in 1878, the increase of 1878 over 1877, and also, merely as illustrative of growth, the acreage in these countries in 1872, the counties being given at the different periods in the order of their value in acreage:

In 1872, the acreage of these ten counties was 9 per cent. of the winter-wheat acreage of the State; in 1878 it was 49 per cent., while the increase in the ten counties was nearly 40 per cent. of that of the State. The second belt, embracing counties having 20,000 and less than 40,000 acres, is confined to no particular section of the State, taking in Barton and Rice in the southwest, 0ttawa and Clay in the northwest, Doniphan in the extreme northeast, Jefferson, Leavenworth and Johnson on the eastern border, Marion in the central, and Wilson and Labette in the south. The third belt, comprised of counties having 10,000 and less than 20,000 acres, also scatters all over the State, and includes Cherokee, Pawnee, Douglas, Atchison, Chautauqua, Wyandotte, Lincoln, Ellsworth, Davis and Brown.

The following is the winter-wheat 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 Winter Wheat in each County to the Square Mile for 1878, arranged in seven groups of ten counties each, commencing with the highest.