News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-07-30
TWENTY BILLIONS IN FARMS.
Census Shows Great Increase In Num-
Der and Production.

1s5O-Acreage Increasing-GrossI Income
Exceeded 10 Per Cent.-The West Shows
Highest Average Values.
Accordingly to report issued re-
Gently by the census bureau the
farms of the United States June /,
1900, numb ered 5,739,657 and were
valued at $16,674, 690,247. OF this
amount SO, $50, 1851, or 81 4 per
cent, represents the value of build
ings and $13, ia 1926 or 1876
per cent, the value of land and i'm
provements. The value of farm i'm
plements and machinery was $761,-
261, $50, and of live stock $3,07S,-
O5O,041, the total value of farm
property being $20,514, DOL ,638.
The total value of farm products
for 1899 was 81, 739, lis, 1852, of which
amount 81, us, 800, 221, or 36 3 per
cent, represents the value of animal
products and $3,020,12S, 531, or
63.7 per cent, the value of crops.
The total value of farm products for
1899 exceeds that reported for 1889
by So, 279, OIL ,29S, or 90 6 per cent.
The gross farm income in 1899 was
So, 764 Ut, 706, and the percentage
OF gross income upon investment was
Is 3 per cent.
In 1900 there were nearly four
times as many farms as in 1850, and
25.7 per cent. more than in 1890.
Since 1880 the total acreage has in
creased more rapidly than the num-
Der OF farms, 80 that the average size
of farms has increased.
The total value or farm property
in the United States in 1900 was
more than FIVE times as great as in
1850 and % 4 per cent. greater than
in 1890. Nearly all of this increase
is reported from the North Central
and South Central divisions. The
total value of farm property in the
North Atlantic division decreased
$40, 25S, sos.
The very large increase of $2,279,-
oil, 29S, or 90 6 per cent, in the
total value of farm products is due
largely to a more detailed and COM
plete enumeration in 1900 than in
1890. Among the items enumerated
in 1900, but not in 1890, is the value
of animals sold and animals slaugh-
tered on farms, which was 1912, 1885,
424, or 40 per cent of the total gain.
The North Central division leads in
the number, acreage and value OF
farms and in the value of farm pro
ducts. This division also reports the
largest expenditure for labor.
The Western division shows the
highest average values per farm of
farm land, live stock and products,
but the value of buildings was great
err in the North Atlantic and North
Central. The average value OF pro
ducts per acre was highest in the
North Atlantic division, rejecting the
very intensive cultivation prevailing
there.
A comparison by states indicates
that the most important states in
the agriculture of the country are,
beginning at the West, Missouri,
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Penn
sylvania and New York. Most of
these states individually outrank in
many respects the entire western
division, while a few of them surpass
the South Central division in some
respects. Together they contribute
A 7 per cent. of the total value OF
farm property and 80 9 per cent. OF
the total value Of farm products.
Of these 5,739 657 farms it the
United States 4 970,129 or SO 6 per
cent. are operated by white farmers
and 100 52S or ID 4 per cent. by
colored, the average siz9 of farms
being over three times as great for
white as for colOred farmers.
There were So ,406 farms, ranging
in size from one to 1000 acres, which
reported no income. Tue value of
domestic animals in the United States
in 1900 was about 30 200, 900, 900,
of which the value of animals on
farms and ranges constituted over
90 per cent.
OF the total value of crops in 1899
cereals contributed 40 l per cent,
hay and forage, Is per cent, cotton,
1913 per cent; vegetables, including
potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions,
10 per cent; fruits, 4 4 per cent;
forest products, per cent; tobac-
co, 9 per cent; sugar, l 3 per cent
and all other products, 3 8 per cent.
New York Sun.