The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-09-21
BELFAST, MAINE.

OF the mortgaged farms was reported as
S39, TIA, 005. Twenty years ago, in $780,
the total mortgage debt on farms was
reported as Sc, al, 922, and total value OF
the mortgaged farms as SIS, 172.
The average value of the mortgaged
farm increased from 81, 449 in 1890 to
81, o63 In 1910, the average mortgage
debt increasing from S532 to SS45 per
farm. The debt increased less than the
value of the farm property; accordingly
the equity in the average mortgaged
farm has increased, advancing from $917
per farm in 1890 to S2,OlS in 1910 In
1890 the mortgage indebtedness was
equivalent to 36.7 per cent of the total
value of the mortgaged farms. By 1910
this percentage had diminished to 29.5.
AVERAGE SIZE OF FARMS, AND CLAssIFI-
CATION OF FARMERS.
A study of the figures classifying farms
according to the number of acres sug-
gests slight tendency toward smaller
farms, which is also reflected in the de-
cline in the average size of farms in 1900
being 1862 acres, as compared to 1O4.
acres in 1910. There has been consid-
cradle increase in the number of farms
ranging between and 40 acres, and a
decrease in the number ranging from SO
to TIA acres. Especially noteworthy is
the relatively large increase in the num-
Der of farms of from 3 to 9 acres. In
1900 there were 2,042 such farms and in
1910, 1886. The number of farms be-
tween 10 and 10 acres increased 225 per
cent; the number of farms from 20 to 40
acres increased "a per cent Of the
total number of farms in the State, 1913
per cent are between so and SO acres,
27.7 per cent between 100 and TIA acres,
and 1873 per cent between 20 and 40
acres; these three groups accounting for
1873 per cent or nearly three-fourth of
all farms. The farms having between 3
and - acres represent Ill per cent Of
the total number of farms, and the farms
of its acres or over represent 148 per
cent
Of the farmers in the State, 91.7 per
cent are native white and 8.3 per cent
foreign-born white Only 20, or less
than one-tenth of l per cent of all
farmers, are other than white; of these,
% are negroes and is an Indian.
VALUE OF PRINCIPAL CROPS AND ExPENDI-
TURE FOR LABOR, ETC.
Of the farm crops raised in Maine, the
most important by far is the hay crop,
INC totdI value u Ine nay anu forage
crop in the crop year 1909 being Sis, 49,
82l. The next most important crop is
the potato crop, the value of which was
$40, 224, ia. Then comes the oat crop,
So, 293, 947; corn, s434, 1884; and beans,
$275, 1874. Wheat has almost disappeared
as farm crop in Maine, the acreage of
wheat being only 3.4O7 in 1909, as COM
pared with an acreage of 43, 1929 acres in
1879: The acreage or oats, on the other
hand, has increased since 1879, being 49,
785 acres in that year, as compared with
120, 991 acres harvested in 1909.
Nearly all farmers reported hay and
forage ;:more than four ffths of them re-
ported potatoes; about one-fourth re-
ported beans, among their crops Only
one farmer in six raises corn; about one
farmer in rs raises barley. Many farm
products, such as fruits, poultry, eggs,
ETC., are not included in these figures,
the tabulation not having been COM
pleted.
According to this bulletin, the farmers
of Maine in the year 1909 expended
S., 633, LOG for labor, 81, 267, 954 for feed,
and 81, 069, 479 for fertilizers. The amount
reported for labor is more than twice as
as great as it was 10 years ago, and the
amount for fertilizers is almost five times
as great