Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-05-01
SECRETARY SHAW ON IOWA.

Iowa embraces $4,000 square miles
BE, 90 900 acres-of which less than
1 per cent is waste land. 1t could bel
cut in more than 100000 farms, each
containing SO acres of arabic land and
less than one acre of waste land. 1t
would afford two acres for each fam
lily of seven persons in the United
States. 1t would accommodate all the
people of the globe with four square
rods of ground to each man, woman
and child. OF this great body of land
| about 40 per cent is annually devoted
to the production of the common GER
calls. In 1900 this 40 per cent pro-
duced over 3O0,O00,000 bushels of corn,
| 130,000,000 bushels of oats, 22,000,000
bushels of wheat, 100000 bushels
of barley and 100000 bushels of rye.
1t would require 100000 cars to han
die this product. Iowa ranks first in
| the sisterhood of states in the produc-
ton of both corn and barley, fifth in
rye, and seventh in wheat. She grows
20 per cent of the nations product of
barley, 16 per cent of its oats and 14@
per cent of its corn. She produced
last year over five tons of grain for
each man, woman ard child in the
state. This 40 per cent of the land of
our state produced over a pint OF food
cereals for each man, woman and child
in the United States for each day Of
the year-quite sufficient to sustain
! life, and more than the equivalent of
the average ration consumed by the
human family If all our arabic land
We're in corn it would require single
line of railroad eight months to trans
port it, trains of forty cars following
each other every ten minutes Plant
only the arabic land of Iowa, and we
would have after feeding all necessary
teams, more grain than all the people
of the United States could consume
if restricted to a purely cereal diet.
The only way the agricultural product
of Iowa can be consumed by 10000 900
people is by first Transforming large
portions into such Injuries as Iowa
beef, pork and poultry, and into sucf
, delicacies as Iowa eggs, milk, cream
and butter.
The lands of Iowa are now so uset
that we not only produce the 466,00O,
600 bushels of the ordinary cereals
heretofore referred to- but in addition
grow 100000 bushels of flax seed
near a million bushels OF grass seed
14,000,000 bushels of potatoes am
100000 bushels of other vegetables
100000 bushels of apples, and $50,
600 bushels of other tree fruits; IL,
100000 pounds of grapes, and 100000
t bushels of other small fruit; 100000
tons of hay, and we have left S,000,00
acres in pasture, the product of which
r is worth $3O,000,000 We annuall
prepare for market 100000 beeve
I and have 4,366,S49 head of cattle lef
S on our farms. We fatten and marke
s 100000 hogs and hold 1861 ,995 o.
0 our farms. We stall feed 100000 shee
t and clip 100000 pounds Of WOOL T
summarize, Iowa is the first state i
the union in the number of horses, hay
ing 1,4O1, 427; first in hogs, with 1851
S 995 head, which is over one-seventh @
l. all the hogs in the United States
g Iowa has on her farms, pastures and i
i. her feed lots 6,366,S49 cattle, being tn
j. second state in the union and only SUI
passed by Texas. In the raising c
pure bred stock Iowa stands first j
the United States and is now the leat
;. ing draft horse state, and has NOR
9 draft hourse importers than any othe
4 state, and is also breeding more pur
q bred and high grade draft horses tina
any other state, and with 1,401, AZ
horses in the state is now sendin
more good horses to market than an
!, other state.
u Iowa has 800 breeders of pure bre
. Herefords, and contains one-tenth {
g all the pure Herefords in the Unite
States. Iowa sold one-fourth of a
the pure bred Herefolds that wei
g sold last year in America. Iowa he
Q 200 breeders Of Angus cattle, and on
a third of all the Aberdeen-Angus catt
y in America, her increase being 81
e per cent. Iowa has more Shorthol
n hrandars Than nthnr state in til