figure of 63,964,876 was reached; in 1906 it was 50,631,619,
The numbers and values of swine constantly fluctuate with the
movement and value of the Indian corn crops. The returns for
1890 (51,602,780) showed a numerical increase of 51.6% over
those of 1880; then followed a steady decrease in numbers
down to 1900 (57,079,156), since which time there has been
considerable increase, so that in 1906 there were 52,102,847--the
maximum excepting 1901, when there were 56,982,142 swine on
farms. The movement in values was similar to that in
numbers. From $4.28 in 1880, the average farm price of hogs
increased steadily to $6.73 in 1885. The lowest figure,
$4.15, was reached in 1891, and after numerous fluctuations it
became $4.40 in 1899 and $7.78 in 1903; in 1906 it was $6.18.
The total value of farm animals showed a steady increase from
1880 to 1890, with slight variations in 1885 and 1886. Following
1890 there was a steady decrease with the exception of slight
increases in 1892 and 1893. In 1880 the total value of farm
animals in the United States was $1,576,917,556. In 1890 it
had increased to $2,418,766,028, or 53.4%. In 1896 the value
had dimished to $1,727,926,084--a decrease of 28.6% from the
1890 values, and an increase of 9.6% over those of 1880. The
value in 1906 showed an increase of 133% over that of 1880.
The exports of live stock and its products have increased
enormously in recent years, both in quantity and value.
This is a especially true of the exportation of beef, cattle
and meat products. The exports of cattle increased from
182,750 in 1880 to 331,720 in 1895, or 81 1/2%, and to 567,806
in 1905 or 210% over 1880, and values from $13,340,000 in
1880 to $30,600,000 in 1895, an increase of 129%, and to
$40,590,000 in 1905 or 204%. The average value of cattle
exported increase from $19 in 1870 to $73 in 1880 and $92
in 1895, decreasing to $71.50 in 1905. Only the best and
heaviest cattle are exported, these, of course, commanding
a much higher price than the average of the country.
The total value of farm animals exported from the United
States has flucuated greatly. On the whole, however, the
value increased from $16,000,000 in round numbers in 1880 to
$46,500,000 in 1905, or 190%. Table XXXIX. shows the number
and value of live animals exported between 1880 and 1905.
TABLE XXXIX.--Number and Value of Farm Animals Exported from the
United States, 1880-1905.
Year
ending
30th Horses. Mules.
June. Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 3,060 $675,139 5,198 $532,362
1885 1,947 377,692 1,028 127,580
1890 3,501 680,410 3,544 447,108
1894 5,246 1,108,995 2,063 240,961
1895 13,984 2,209,298 2,515 186,452
1900 16 64,722 7,612,616 43,369 3,919,478
1901 16 82,250 8,873,845 34,405 3,210,267
1902 16 103,020 10,048,046 27,586 2,692,298
1903 34,007 3,152,159 4,294 521,725
1904 42,001 3,189,100 3,658 412,971
1905 34,822 3,175,259 5,826 645,464
Year
ending
30th Cattle. Sheep.
June. Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 182,756 $13,344,195 209,137 $892,647
1885 135,890 12,906,690 234,509 512,563
1890 394,836 31,261,131 67,521 243,077
1894 359,278 33,461,922 132,370 852,763
1895 331,722 30,603,796 405,748 2,630,686
1900 16 397,286 30,635,153 125,772 733,477
1901 16 459,218 37,566,980 297,925 1,933,000
1902 16 392,884 29,902,212 358,720 1,940,060
1903 402,178 29,848,936 176,961 1,067,860
1904 593,409 42,256,291 301,313 1,954,604
1905 567,806 40,598,048 268,365 1,687,321
Year
ending
30th Swine.
June. Number. Value. Total Value.
1880 83,434 $421,089 $15,865,432
1885 55,025 579,183 14,503,713
1890 91,148 909,042 33,540,768
1894 1,553 14,753 35,659,394
1895 7,130 72,424 35,702,656
1900 16 51,180 394,813 43,295,537
1901 16 22,318 238,465 51,822,557
1902 16 8,368 88,330 44,670,946
1903 4,031 40,923 34,631,603
1904 6,345 53,780 47,866,746
1905 44,495 414,692 46,520,784
Since 1890 there has been a great development in the production
of fruit and vegatables. Local market gardens are numerous
in the vicinity of all cities, and highly specialized ``truck
gardening,'' that is, the growing of early fruits and vegatables
for transportation to distant markets where the seasons
are later, has made rapid progress in the South Atlantic
states. The census reports of 1900 use the potato acreage in
these states as an index of the rate of development of truck
gardening; the southern potato being largely a truck garden
crop. In seven counties of Virginia the increase in acreage
from 1889 to 1899 was 100%; in eleven counties of North
Carolina, 314%; in five counties of South Carolina, 134%; in
nine counties of Georgia, 111%; in six counties of Florida, 309%;
in five counties of Alabama, 277%. Irish and sweet potatoes
are the most important vegatables raised; the North Central
state leading in the production of the former and the South
Atlantic states in the production of the latter. The growth
of the Irish potato industry is shown by the following table:--
Year. Acreage. Yield (bushels).
1870 1,325,119 114,775,000
1880 1,842,510 167,659,570
1890 2,651,579 148,289,696
1900 2,611,054 210,926,897
1905 2,996,757 260,741,294
The production of sweet potatoes, as
reported in census years, was as follows:--
Year. Acreage. Yield (bushels).
1869 .. 21,709,824
1879 444,817 33,378,693
1889 524,588 43,950,261
1899 537,447 42,526,606
The total acreage in vegetables reported in 1899 was
5,758,191 or 2% of the acreage in all crops; the value of
the yield was $242,170,148 or 8.3% of the value of all crops.
The value of the fruit crop of 1899 was $131,423,517;
the value of orchard fruits was $83,751,840; of grapes,
$14,000,937; of small fruits, $25,030,877; of sub-tropical
fruits, $8,549,863. The development of fruit-growing during
the decade 1889-1899 appears from the following table:-
Yield (bushels).
Crop. 1889. 1899.
Apples 143,105,689 175,397,626
Apricots 1,001,482 2,642,128
Cherries 1,476,719 2,873,499
Peaches 36,367,747 15,433,62317
Pears 3,064,375 6,625,417
Plums and Prunes 2,554,392 8,764,032
In 1899 California contributed 21.5% of the fruit crop; New
York, 12.1%; Pennsylvania, 7.5%; Ohio, 6.8%; and Michigan 4.5%
Agricultural Education.
The agricultural schools of the United States owe their
origin to the movement against the old classical school and
in favour of technical education which began in most civilized
nations about the middle of the 19th century. A rapidly
growing country with great natural resources needed men
educated in the sciences and arts of life, and this want was
first manifested in the United States by a popular agitation
on behalf of agricultural schools. A number of so-called
agricultural schools were started between 1850 and 1860 in the
eastern and middle states, where the movement made itself most
felt, but without trained teachers and suitable methods they
accomplished very little. They were only ordinary schools
with farms attached. The second constitution of the state
of Michigan, adopted in 1850, provided for an agricultural
school, and this was the first one established in the United
States. The General Assembly of the state of Pennsylvania
incorporated the Farmers' High School, now the State College, in
1854. Maryland incorporated her agricultural college in 1856,
and Massachusetts chartered a school of agriculture in the same
year. The agitation, which finally reached Congress, led
to the establishment of the so-called ``land-grant'' or
agricultural colleges. The establishment of these colleges
was due chiefly to the wisdom and foresight of Justin S.
Morrill, who introduced the first bill for their endowment
in the House of Representatives on the 14th of December 1857,
saw the latest one approved by the president on the 30th of
August 1890, and is justly known, therefore, as the father
of the American agricultural colleges. The first act for
the benefit of these colleges, passed in 1862, was entitled
``An Act donating public lands to the several states and
territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of
agriculture and the mechanic arts,'' and granted to each state
an amount of land equal to 30,000 acres for each senator and
representative in Congress to which the state was entitled
at that time. The object of the grant was stated to be ``the
endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college''
(in each state), ``where the leading object shall be, without
excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including
military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are
related to agriculture and the mechanic arts . . . in order to
promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial
classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.''
The total number of acres of land granted to the states under
this act was 10,320,843, of which by far the greater part is
sold. This grant has produced an endowment fund amounting to
$12,045,629. The land still unsold in 1905 amounted to 844,164
acres, valued at $4,168,746. The invested land-grant funds
yielded these colleges a total annual income of $855,083 in
1905. Including the United States appropriation under a
supplementary act of 1890, commonly known as the Second
Morrill Act, which now gives each college $25,000 a year,
the interest on the land-grant and all other invested funds,
all state appropriations and other sources of revenue, these
colleges had in 1904-1905 a total income of $11,659,955.
Sixty-six institutions had been organized under this act up to
1905, of which sixty-three maintain courses in agriculture;
twenty-one are departments of agriculture and engineering
in state universities; twenty-seven are separate colleges of
agriculture and mechanic arts; and the remainder are organized
in various other ways. Separate schools for persons of African
descent had been established under this act in sixteen southern
states. These colleges take students prepared in the common
schools and give them a course of from two to four years in
the sciences pertaining to agriculture. Many of them offer
short courses, varying from four to twelve weeks in length, in
agriculture, horticulture, forestry and dairying, which are largely
attended. Agricultural experiment stations are connected
with all the colleges, and many of them conduct farmers'
institutes, farmers' reading clubs and correspondence classes.
The agricultural experiment stations of the United States grew
up in connexion with the agricultural colleges. Several of the
colleges early attempted to establish separate departments for
research and practical experiments, on the plan of the German
stations. The act establishing the Agricultural College of
Maryland required it to conduct ``a series of experiments
