Gloucester County Democrat., 1912-04-18
NEW JERSEY FARM BULLETIN.
Continued from Page one)

$3.50. OF this $3.50, $6,4S4 repre-
sents the value of land and buildings
$734 the value of live stock, and 1891
the value of implements and machin
cry The average value of farms i'm
creased from 1850 to 1870, and de-
creased at each decade from 1870 to
I 1900. 1t is now over one and one
third times as great as in 1850. Dur
ing the last decade the value per acre
of land buildings has increased from
$57 23 to $84 SO, an increase of $27.13
i per acre. 1t may be noted that at
each of the three decades 1870 to 1900,
the average value per acre had de-
creased, the maximum value reported
at any census prior to 1910, $68 81,
being that for 1870. The average val
ue per farm of equipments, which in
cludes implements and machinery and
live stock, is nearly twice as great as
it was so years ago.
While there was decrease of 1,163
! in the total number of farms during
the last decade the number operated
by owners and managers increased
898 and the number operated by ten
ants decreased 2,061.
In 1880 about one out of every four
IdFIktS was OPEItttCi Ny d tCudbt. Ills
proportion increased during the next
! 20 years, until in 1900 three farms in
! every ten were SO operated. In the
last decade, however, reversal OF
! this movement has reduced the rela-
tive frequency of tenancy in 1910 to
almost exactly what it was in 1880.
In 1910 the number of share ten
ants (including share-casil was very
1s,~. of 18Th
tenants (including -specified), cash
tenancy showing a net increase and
share tenancy net decrease for the
30-year period 1880 to 1910. Both
forms of tenancy have, however, de-
creased during the last decade.
In 1910 the total number of farms
owned in whole or in part by the OPP
orators was "a, 1873. OF this number
1883 were reported as free from
mortgage; 11,793 were reported as
mortgaged; and for 357 no report rel
ative to mortgage indebtedness was
obtained The number of mortgaged
farms constituted 49.6 per cent of the
total number of owned farms, exclu-
sive of those for which no mortgage
report was obtained. The percentage
is slightly smaller than it was in 1900,
which in turn was slightly larger
than it was in 1890. 1t may be noted
that the percentages given for the
three censuSes are comparable, but
that the number of mortgaged and un-
mortgaged farms reported in 1890 is
not entirely comparable with the mum
bers reported at the later census be-
cause at the census of 1890 the farms
for which no reports were secured
were distributed between the two
classes of mortgaged and unmortgag-
ed farms. 1t can be seen, however,
that from 1890 to 1910 the number of
mortgaged farms increased more than
the number free of mortgage.
| The statement of mortgage debt and
of the value of mortgaged farm prop
erty is restricted to the farms of those
farmers who own all of their land
and report the amount as we'll as the
fact of indebtedness. Of the 11,793
farms reported as mortgaged, II, 1875
for 1866 of these the amount of mort
gage debt is reported.
Four out of every five farmers are
native whites, 1875 per cent foreign
born whites, and only ATS, or Ia per
cent are non-white, 472 being negroes,
8 Japanese and Chinese.
OF the native whites, 26. 6 per cent
are tenants and 81 per cent manag-
ers, as compared with 1877 and 3.3
per cent among foreign-born whites
and 38. z and ST. per cent among the
non white farmers.
little over two-thirds of the farms
in New Jersey are between 20 and
174 acres in size, and about one
fourth are between 8 and 10 acres.
(, Except for an inconsiderable increase
in the number of small farms, to 10
acres, and an increase of in the
number of farms 500 to 999 acres,
lfewer farms were reported for each
increase and decrease have, however,
orally distributed as to leave the pro-
portion of farms in each size group
not greatly changed.
Seven -tenths of the farmers in New
Jersey hire labor, and the average
amount spent by those hiring is $473.
The total amount expended, 22.2 per
cent of which was in the form of rent
and board, is about one and two thirds
LI1Qt$S t1k5 BIt0lt do tl1dL ICpOIlCQ III
1900 During the decade 1899 to 1909
the total expenditure for labor in
lcreased $4,378,000, or 65. / per cent.
At prior censuses no tabulation was
made of the number of farmers re-
porting expenditures for labor.
OF all New Jersey farmers 68..7 per
cent report some expenditures for
feed, and 70.7 per cent report the
purchase of fertilizer. The total
amount reported as paid for fertilizer
is almost double that reported for
1899, the average per farm reporting
being $181.
4 The leading crops of the state in
, the order of their Importance, as judg-
ed by value, are hay and forage, ST.
627 900; corn, $6,664 900; potatoes, $4,-
$4,000; wheat, 81, 100000; and sweet
potatoes and yams, $1,527,000
Tho rancf i111rnfsfanf fsrnn pf 4hn