and mechanic arts and other institutions, and by military bounty land warrants, and selected by states and railroad corporations, covered about 430,000,000 acres. In addition to this, the states and railroad corporations sold a large amount of land to farmers of which we have no accurate record. This vast territory, greater
| The United States. | Number of Farms. |
Acreage. | |
| Total. | Improved. | ||
| 1850 to 1860 | 41·1 | 38·7 | 44·3 |
| 1860 ″ 1870 | 30·1 | 0·1 | 15·8 |
| 1870 ″ 1880 | 50·7 | 31·5 | 50·7 |
| 1880 ″ 1890 | 13·9 | 16·2 | 25·6 |
| 1890 ″ 1900 | 25·7 | 35·0 | 16·0 |
| 1850 to 1900 | 296·0 | 186·5 | 267·1 |
in extent than Germany and France combined, was added to the farms of the country in thirty years. In many cases railroad building has made the settlement of the public lands possible for the first time, and the building of branch 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 in 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 2·2 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.
| Whole Farm. | Proportion of 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 South 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 Agricultural occupations.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 nearly correct (Table XXX.).
The wages paid farm labourers, as ascertained 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 wa e 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.”
| Number of Farms. |
Number of farms operated by | Percentage of farms operated by | |||||
| Year. | Cash | Share | Cash | Share | |||
| Owners.[1] | Tenants. | Tenants.[2] | Owners. | Tenants. | Tenants. | ||
| 1880 | 4,008,907 | 2,984,306 | 322,357 | 702,244 | 74·5 | 8·0 | 17·5 |
| 1890 | 4,564,641 | 3,269,728 | 454,659 | 840,254 | 71·6 | 10·0 | 18·4 |
| 1900 | 5,737,372 | 3,712,408 | 751,665 | 1,273,299 | 64·7 | 13·1 | 22·2 |
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, Value of
farms and
products.the main classes being, in round numbers:—Land, fences and buildings, $16,674,690,000; machines 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%.
| 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 area 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.
| 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 |
