Milford chronicle., 1922-08-11
FARM POPULATION in 1920
The DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE an
NOUNCES FIGURES OF FOURTEENTH
DECENNIAL CENSUS.

The Department of Commerce an
nounces that, according to the four
teenth decennial census, the farm
population of the United States, on
January 1, 1920, was 31,614,269, or
1913 per cent of the total population
of the country on that date. OF this
number 31,358,640 were enumerated
in rural territory and 255, ,629 on farms
located within the limits of cities and
other incorporated places having 25OO
inhabitants or more. 1t may be noted
in this connection that the census def
milton of a farm extends somewhat
beyond the ordinary meaning of the
term in that it includes any fruit or
market garden, poultry yard, dairy
or apiary which either yielded SOU
worth of products in 1919 or required
for it's operation the continuous SER
vices of at least one person during
that year. The farm population COM
prises both operators and farm Ia
borers and their families, including
farm laborers and their families not
actually living on farms but not liv-
ing in incorporated places.
Since the rural population as de-
ated cities, villages, ETC., having fewer
than $500 inhabitants, unincorpOrated
hamlets, mining regions, and other
areas not devoted to agriculture, it is
not surprising to find that only 81
per cent of the total rural population
as thus defined is farm population and
that while nearly One-half of the in
habitants of the United States are
rural residents, only about three
tenths are living on farms.
The census of 1920 was the first at
which the population living on farms
was tabulated separately from the ru-
raj population as a whole, and there
fore no comparative figures for earlier
censuses can be given.
The proportion which the farm pop
ulation formed of the total in the indi-
vidual States ranged from II per cent
in Mississippi to 2.5 per cent in Rhode
Island. In eleven States Mississippi,
Arkansas, North Carolina, North Da-
kota, North Carolina, Georgia, Ala
bama, South Dakota, Tennessees, Ken
lucky and Oklahoma-the population
living on farms constituted more than
half the total. On the other hand, in
fifteen States-RhOde Island, Massa-
chusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut,
New York, Pennsylvania, California,
Illinois, New Hampshire, Maryland,
Ohio, Nevada, Washington, Delaware
and Michigan-the farm population
formed less than one-fOurth of the
total. In general the smallest proper
tiOns of farm population are found in
the Northeastern States-that is, the
States lying north of the Ohio and
Potomac rivers and east of the Miss
issippi-and in the Pacific Coast
States.
The percentage which the farm pop
ulation formed of the entire rural
1920 also shows a wide range, from
POI in New Jersey to S1.S in Mississ-
ippi. In sixteen States-New Jersey,
Connecticut, Nevada, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New
Hampshire, Maine, Arizona, West Vir-
ginia, New York, California, Florida,
Maryland and Wyoming
the farm population constituted less
than half the total rural population.
In actual numbers the largest farm
population for any State, 2,277,773 was
reported for Texas. The smallest, 49,
1876 is shown for Rhode Island, in |
which State the proportion which the
farm population formed of the total, |
2.5 per cent, is also the smallest
shown for any State. In IA States
Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Ala
banfa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississ-
ipp, Missouri, Orkansas, Ohio, Illi-
nois, South Carolina, Virginia and
Oklahoma farm population in
1920 numbered more than million;
but neither New York nor Pennsylva-
1ia, which outrank all other States in
.otal population, appears in this list.