Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-07-13
THE NATIONS FARMS.


THE NATIONS FARMS.
THE GREAT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
Agriculture The fsasis OF Ali Wealth.
n. Y. Tribune. Il
The most Interesting change of which
the census gives account is the increase in
the number Of farms. The number has
virtually doubled within twenty years.
The population of the country has not in
creased in like proportion. A large part
of the increase in number of farms has
been due to the division Of great estates.
Nor has this occurred, as some may inn
agine, exclusively in the southern states
and the states to which immigration and
migration have recently been directed. 1t
is an important fact that the multiplica-
tion of farms has continued even in the
older Northern states, though the change
has not been as great in these as in states
of the far West Or the South. In New
York there has been an Increase of % 600
or 11.5 per cent. in the number of farms
since 1870; in New Jersey the increase
has been II 9 per cent, and in Pennsylva-
MIA 22.7 per cent, though the increase in
population, and doubtless in the number
of persons engaged in farming, has
been much smaller. Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois, also, have been considered fully
settled states for years, at least in an ag-
ricultural point of view, and yet the num-
Der Of farms has increased 26.1 per cent.
in ten years in Ohio, 20'3 per cent. in In
diana, and 26. 1 per cent. in Illinois. Tho
obvious explanation is that the growth of
many cities and towns has created a maj
ket for far greater supply of those pro-
ducts which may be most advantageOus'y
grown upon farms Of moderate size but
even if this fully accounts for the phe-
nOmenOn, the change must be recognized
as ono of the highest importance indus
trialIy, socially, and politically. The man
who owns or rents and cultivates farm
stands on a very different footing from the
laborer who works for wages. 1t is not
small matter that, in these six states alone,
there are 205, 900 more owners or managers
of farms than there We're only decade
ago.
As we go further towards the border,
wcst Or'nOrth, the influence Of the settle
ment Of new land is more distinctly felt.
Even in Michigan, where new railroads
have opened new regions to settlement,
the increase in farms has been over So per
cent. In Wisconsin, though the increase
in mileage has been about the same as in
Michigan, the reported increase in number
of farms has been only % per cent, but in
Iowa it rises to 60 per cent, and in Mime
sofa to nearly 100 per cent. In Kansas the
number Of farms il 13S, SCI, against 80 202
i'm 1870 in Nebraska, GO. 387 against r.
3O1 and in Dakotah II, 435 against ,7s0.
In these regions the process is ono of ere
alton of new states rather than 4 change
in the social and industrial condition OF
tho population.
Some Southern states have gained
largely. but the increase in these, though
very great, is less surprising than in the
new states of the Northwest. The pre-
vailing tendency Of Southern agriculture
to large farms and the employment OF
many hands is especially felt in states
where land is less abundant. The greatest
increase is in Texas, where ia, 1874 farms
are reported, against CT, 1875 in 1870 in
Florida with %, 438 farms, against 10, s41
in 1870 aud in Arkansas, with 81, 43;
farms. against 10. 424 in 1870. In Missouri
215.575 farms are reported, against las, 42e
in 1870. In these states, though sOcia
changes have been great, the increase in
number of farms has been largely due t.
new settlements, as in the states of the
far Northwest. But the change in the
older Southern States 10 Of a different
character. g.. ,,:.. ...
Virginia, for example, has long been
settled. and had q, 600 farms thirty year:
ago. But the increase in number within
the past ten years has been "A ,GSS, or 50.i
per cent. Contrasting this with the in
crease in New York a remarkable differ
ence appears. West Virginia had few
mole farms ten years ago than New Jer
sey now it has nearly twice as many, ant
has gained in number nearly GO per cent
North Carolina, too, has increased TS pei
cent. in number of farms since 1870, and
South Carolina 80 per cent. III Georgia
the increase has been still greater-frOnl
90, $50 to 13S, ,626, or nearly 100 per cent
In Alabama there are 1S5, SG4 farms, agains
G., 3S2 in 1870, and increase Of over 100 PEE
cent. These proportions, contrasted will
those for the older Northern states re
veal change that is nothing less than q,
industrial revolution. But the fOrce 0
this tendency to division of estates la
been greatest in the states named. Where
as tho ratio of increase in number @
farms becomes greater in Northern state
sissippi river, ut the South it is mucl
SAsssiCk iu IAChSuShyS AOhuOSoOos NhisStc
sippi and Louisiana, than in the olde
states on tho Atlantic coast. Thus il
Louisiana the increase has bee.l from %,
4Sl to AZ, 293 farms, or 20 per cent, an,
in Mississippi from GS,02S to 101,77
farms, or less than 80 per cent, asgains
100 in Alabama and Georgia. In Ken
tucky the increase has been from 118, 40
t. 1G6, 453 farms, or 40 per cent, and il
Tennessee from 1lS, 1H to 1G5, $50 farms
or 4Oper cent, against 90 in Virginia All,
West Virginia and 7S in North Carolina
Thus, while tine tendency to division i
far greater than in the Northern states o
corresponding age, it is found in full fore
only in six Of the older Southern states
Alabama, West Virginia, aud four on th
Atlantic coast. In these, tho revolution
already effected foreshadOws and will al
most certainly bring about important po
litical changes within = few years. Il
these six states there are $40, .95 NOR
farm-Owncrs or occupants than ther
were ten years ago.
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