lines, by providing means for transporting products to
market, has greatly facilitated the acquisition of other
lands. The mileage of railways increased 310.7% between
1870 and 1905. The interesting fact is that this increase
corresponds geographically to the increase in farms.
The agricultural statistics do not include any farm of less
than three acres unless it produced at least $500 worth of
products in the preceding year. The census of 1900 showed
that the average size of farms was 146 acres, or nine acres
more than in 1890 and 57 acres less than in 1850. This
fact, however, does not indicate a general tendency toward
the consolidation of holdings. The increase in the average
size of farms for the whole country is due to the extension
of grazing lands in the Rocky Mountain region and in Texas,
and to the enlargement of the wheat fields in the Mississippi
valley. On the other hand, in the southern states there
has been a steady breaking up of holdings and decrease in
the average size of farms since the close of the Civil War.
In the New England states, where dairying has become the
leading agricultural industry, there was an increase of 2
acres in the size of farms during the decade 1890-1900.
This increase was more than offset by the decrease in the
Atlantic states from New York to Maryland inclusive (2.8
acres), where there has been a subdivision of farms following
the increased attention given to the growing of fruits and
vegetables for cities. The same tendency is noted in the
states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. As will be seen from
Table XXVIII., the average farm, which steadily diminished
in size from 1850 to 1880, increased between 1880 and 1900.
TABLE XXVIII.--Average Acreage of Farms and Proportion of
Improved Land Therein.
Proportion of
Whole Farm. Improved Land.
1850 202.6 38.5
1860 199.2 40.1
1870 153.3 46.3
1880 133.7 53.1
1890 136.5 57.4
1900 146.6 49.3
The acreage of North Atlantic farms decreased from 112.6
in 1850 to 95.3 in 1890, and increased in 1890-1900 to 96.5
acres. In the north Atlantic states the average was 376.4 acres
in 1850, and there has been steady decrease, so that in 1900
it was 108.4, or one-third less than the average for the entire
country. In the north central states the averages of 1850
and 1900 were nearly the same (143.3 and 144.5 respectively),
with the minimum (121.9 acres) in 1880. The south central
states averaged 291 acres in 1850, 321.3 in 1860, 144 in
1890, and 155.4 in 1900. The maximum decade for the western
states was that ending in 1850 (694.9 acres), and the minimum
1880 (312.9); and the average in 1900 was 386.1 acres.
Table XXIX. gives the number of farms, together with their distribution,
under different forms of tenure in the years 1880, 1890 and 1900.
The steady drift towards farm tenancy of late is believed
to be injurious to production; but it is impossible to prove
this, so great has been the aggregate increase in products.
The number of persons engaged in agriculture as a business
in 1900 was 10,381,765, or 36% of all persons in gainful
occupations. It is interesting to note that 977,336 of
these were women. This is an increase of 2,667,890 persons
over 1880. Thus, if the farm family is the same size as
that of the remainder of the population--it is probably
slightly larger--the agricultural population would be
36% of the whole. Statisticians usually put it at 40%,
and this is probably more nrealy correct (Table XXX.).
The wages paid farm labourers, as ascertainted by the Department
of Agriculture, are rather low compared with the average wages
of labour, but not lower than the wages of other unskilled
labour. The average monthly wage of the agricultural labourer,
without board, was $19.50 in 1870, $16.42 in 1880, $18.33 in
1890, $17.70 in 1895, and $20.23 in 1899, when the maximum
for any state was $45.10 in Nevada, the minimum $10.06 in
South Carolina. the wages of the American farm labourer were
at this last date named (1899) higher than for any other farm
labourer save in Canada and the British colonies of Australasia;
though lower than wages paid in American cities, they have
greater purchasing power. J.R. Dodge, in ``Farm Labour in the
United States'' (vol. xi., Report of Industrial Commission on
Agriculture, &c., 1901), says: ``In addition to wages the
married labourer has a house free of rent, a garden, firewood,
pasturage and other perquisites. The enterprising labourer
usually becomes a tenant and afterwards a farm-owner.''
Value of farms and products.
The figures for farm capital and the value of agricultural
products are so vast that it is extremely difficult to
put them in an intelligible form. The farm capital of
the United States reported by the census of 1900 reached
$20,514,002,000, a sum more than four times the capital
invested in manufactures, the main classes being, in round
numbers:--Land, fences and buildings, $16,674,690,000; machines
TABLE XXIX.--Number of Farms of Specified Tenure.
Number of farms operated by
Number of Cash Share
Year. Farms. Owners. 14 Tenants. Tenants. 15
1880 4,008,907 2,984,306 322,357 702,244
1890 4,564,641 3,269,728 454,659 880,254
1900 5,737,372 3,712,408 751,665 1,273,299
Percentage of farms
Cash Share
Year. Owners. Tenants. Tenants.
1880 74.5 8.0 17.5
1890 71.6 10.0 18.4
1900 64.7 13.1 22.2
and implements, $761,262,000; live stock $3,078,050,000. The
products of the farms in the census year 1899 were valued at
$4,739,119,000. Between 1850 and 1900 the aggregate farm capital
increased 416%. The greatest increase of farm capital was between
1850 and 1860, 101%; the next was the decade 1880-1890, when the
increase was 32%. Between 1890 and 1900 the increase was 28%.
TABLE XXX.--Number of Persons of Ten Years of Age and over in
the different Agricultural Pursuits in 1900.
Occupation. Total Persons.
Dairymen and women 10,875
Farmers and farm superintendents 5,674,875
Farm labourers 4,410,877
Gardeners, nurserymen and viticulturists 61,788
Lumbermen and raftsmen 72,020
Stock-raisers, herders, &c 84,988
Turpentine-farmers and labourers 24,737
Wood-choppers 36,075
Other pursuits 5,530
Total 10,381,765
The growth of farm are and of capital invested in agriculture was
followed by a proportionate increase in the chief crops (Table XXXI.).
The distinguishing feature of the period 1870-1880 was
the rate of increase of barley, Indian corn, wheat and
oats. Since 1870 the production of nearly all of the farm
crops increased more rapidly than the population, the most
absolute proof of the substantial prosperity of the people.
The increase in population for the fifty years from 1840 to
1890 was 267%; from 1870 to 1880, 30%; from 1880 to 1890,
25%; from 1890 to 1900, 21%; but the food and other supplies
far exceeded the demands of even this great population.
TABLE XXXI.--Production of Certain Farm Crops from 1870 to 1905
--Millions of Bushels.
Indian Corn. Wheat. Oats. Barley.
1870 1094 235 247 26
1880 1717 498 418 45
1890 1489 399 523 67
1900 2105 522 809 58
1905 2707 693 953 136
Table XXXII. gives important facts with regard to the cereal
production of the United States between 1870 and 1905.
The average farm price of wheat declined, as is shown in that
table, from $1.05 per bushel for the decade 1870-1880 to
65.3 cents for the period 1890-1899. The farm prices of the
other cereals declined less during the thirty years. Corn
declined from an average farm price of 42.6 cents per bushel
for 1870-1880 to 34.4. cents in 1890-1899. The average
production per acre shows nothing conclusice with regard to
the fertility of the soil of the country. The expansion of the
crop area usually causes a lowering of the average yield per
acre by distributing the culture, fertilizers, &c., over more
surface. Likewise the contraction of crop area will usually
increase the average yield per acre of the entire country.
TABLE XXXII.--Average Yield and Value of Cereal Crops in the United
States, by Periods of Years, 1870-1905.
Average Average Average Average
Farm Price Yield Per Farm Price Yield Per
Period. per Bushel. Acre. per Bushel. Acre.
Dollars. Bushels. Dollars. Bushels.
Indian Corn. Wheat.
1870 to 1880 0.426 27.1 1.05 12.4
1880 to 1889 .393 24.1 .827 12.1
1890 to 1899 .344 24.1 .653 13.1
1900 to 1905 .440 24.9 .706 13.6
Barley. Rye.
1870 to 1880 0.738 22.1 0.701 14.1
1880 to 1889 .589 21.7 .622 11.9
1890 to 1899 .433 23.3 .522 14.0
1900 to 1905 .433 25.9 .570 15.7
Oats.
1870 to 1880 0.353 28.4 0.715 17.7
1880 to 1889 .309 26.6 .642 12.8
1890 to 1899 .277 26.2 .507 16.8
1900 to 1905 .318 30.7 .588 17.9
The average yield of wheat per acre was 12.4 bushels in the
decade 1870-1880, and 13.1 in the period 1890-1899; of Indian
corn, 27.1 in 1870-1880, and 24.1 in 1880-1899 continuously.
Oats fell off from 28.4 in 1870-1880 to 26.2 bushels per acre
in 1890- 1899. The averages for the years 1900-1905 show an
increase over the previous decade both in yields and (with the
exception of the price of barley) in prices of all the cereals.
The agricultural returns for 1890-1905 may be taken as
an illustration of the cereal production of the United
States. The figures for wheat, oats and Indian corn
are presented in Tables XXXIII., XXXIV. and XXXV.
TABLE XXXIII.--Acreage, Production, Value, Price and Exports of
Wheat in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel, Farm Value,
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents. Dollars.
1890 36,087,154 11.1 399,262,000 83.8 334,773,678
1891 39,916,897 15.3 611,780,000 83.9 513,472,711
1892 38,554,430 13.4 515,949,000 62.4 322,111,881
1893 34,629,418 11.4 396,131,725 53.8 213,171,381
1894 34,882,436 13.2 460,267,416 49.1 225,902,025
1895 34,047,332 13.7 467,102,947 50.9 237,938,998
1896 34,618,646 12.4 427,684,346 72.6 310,602,539
1897 39,465,066 13.4 530,149,168 80.8 428,547,121
1898 44,055,278 15.3 675,148,705 58.2 392,770,320
1899 44,592,516 12.3 547,303,846 58.4 319,545,259
1900 42,495,385 12.3 522,229,505 61.9 323,515,177
1901 49,895,514 15.0 748,460,218 62.4 467,350,156
