The patron of husbandry., 1880-06-26
CapitaIfn Farming.

Capital in Farming.
1t is simply surprising that in the
principal agricultural country in the
world so muchignorance prevails in
regard to the value of our farming
property. 1t is only short time
ago that friend spoke in our hear
ing of the railroad interest as involv-
ing more capital than any other in
dustry in the country. and when an
exception was made in favor of farm
ing it was received with sort of
contemptuous amazement. Manu-
facturers talk of the amount or cap
ital invested in their business and of
the amount of wages paid by them
as constituting a sort of claim upon
the State for its favorable considera-
ton, and frequently the immensity
of the railroads and banking inter-
ests and the capital engaged in them
are referred to as exceeding any
other in amount and justifying spe-
cial legislation in their favor.
1t would be a truly interesting
study to compare the statistics of all
branches of business, including cap
ital invested, wages paid, and the
proportion of the population de-
pendent on EACH We shall endeav-
or to extend our observation, in this
direction, but for the present we
must be content with giving few
figures illustrating the comparative
value of the farms aud their products
and the railroads and banks. We
should permise, however, that in the
case of the farm values, except in the
case of live stock, we have to take
the figures of the last census (IS7o),
of which the able editos of the Ame-
rfcan almanac says: Very large
products must therefore have been
excluded from the census of agricul
ture by its very terms" On the
other hand we find the figures relat-
ing to railrods for 1878 and banks
the figures up to June, 1879, are
available.
In 1871 the capital ot0Uk of all rhe
railroads was $2,2oS, 100000 (for
convenience we will give these en-
ormous amounts in mlllions). The
total cost of railroads and equip
ments amounted to So, 100, 900, ,ooo
and their total Indebtedness to ST.
100000. The gross earnings of
the railroads were 10000, 900, and
the total working expenses $3o3,
900. 900.
The aggregate banking capital of
the United States June, 1869, was
over $656,ooo,ooo, and the total de-
posts including savings banks, ST.
S93,ooo,ooo.
Large as the above figures seem,
however, they are insignificant when
compared with the total investments
in farms, the wages paid by farmers
and annual production of the farms.
In 1870 the total value of all the
farms in the United States was $o,-
263,ooo,ooo. To make a just com
parison between the figures and the
cost of railroads and equipments we
should add to the above the total
value of the live stock, amounting in
1873, according to Mr.. ]. r. Dodge,
a most reliable authority, to $I,575,-
100000; also the total value of agri-
cultural implements, ETC., the figures
for which we have not Just now at
command. Allowing a rate of in
crease in value of farms from 1870 to
1880 in same proportion as during
the previous decade, however, we
have for value of farms in 1873 over
$I,4oo, 100000 additional, making
value of farms and live stock over
$I2 zoo, 100000, with value of agri-
cultural implements and all other
farm property not included in farms
and live stock to be added. The
total value of farm productions for
the year 1870 amounted to Sass
100000 more than capital invested
in all the railroads of the country
almost equal to the national debt of
the United States in that same year,
and considerably more than the ma
tional debt of to day.
While the total working expenses
of the railroads amounted in 1873 to
over $3o2 100000, the wages paid
by farmers in 1870, including value
of board, exceeded $3Io,ooo,ooo-an
amount nearly twice as large as the
total expenditures of the national
government for the year ending June
80, 1870.
These figures will give many peo-
pie some new ideas regarding the
relative importance of the agricul-
tural to the other industries of the
country; and as the subject is one
of great importance we hope to give
our readers the result of further in
in the same line, as well |
as some conclusions which may be
deduced from these figures.
The above article, which we take |
from the Farmers Revie5v. is
worthy of the attention of the farm
ers of this country. 1t shows that
as to invested capital the farm
ers of America stand far in advance
of any other interest; and it seems
to US it follows logically that this