and the forests are chiefly of chestnut and various species of oak. Though much broken by farms and other elements of culture they aggregate about 740,000 acres. New Jersey's forests have suffered much from fire, but with the exception of “The Plains” the soil everywhere is well adapted to tree growth. A comparatively mild climate and good market facilities increase the potential value of the whole woodland area. The state maintains a Forest Commission whose chief concern is to control the fires and thereby give value to private holdings. In this effort it is meeting with considerable success. The state is also acquiring, and maintaining as demonstration acres and public parks, forest reserves in various parts of the state. The five reserves now held are in Atlantic, Burlington and Sussex counties and aggregate 9899 acres.[1]
Climate.—Between the extreme northern and southern sections of the state there is a greater variation in climate than would naturally result from their difference in latitude. This is due to the proximity of the ocean in the S. and to the relatively high altitudes in the N. Near Cape May fruit trees bloom two or three weeks earlier than in the Highlands. The mean annual temperature ranges from 49·2° F. at Dover, in the N., to 55·4° at Bridgeton, in the S. The average date of the first killing frost at Dover is the 4th of October, and of the last, the 10th of May; at Atlantic City, on the sea-coast, these dates are respectively the 4th of November and the 11th of April. At Dover the mean annual temperature is 49°; the mean for the winter is 28°, with an extreme minimum recorded of −13°; and the mean for the summer is 70°, with an extreme maximum recorded of 102°. At Atlantic City the mean annual temperature is 52°; for the winter it is 34°, with an extreme of −7°; and for the summer, 70°, with an extreme of 99°. At Vineland, a southern interior town, the mean annual temperature is 53°; for the winter it is 33°, with an extreme of −13°; and for the summer, 74°, with an extreme of 105°. These records of temperature afford a striking illustration of the moderating influence of the ocean upon the extremes of summer and winter. On account of the proximity to the sea, New Jersey has a more equable climate than have some of the states in the same latitude farther west. During the summer months the general course of the wind along the sea-coast is interrupted about midday by an incoming current of air, the “sea breeze,” which gradually increases until about three o’clock in the afternoon, and then gradually lessens until the offshore wind takes its place. As the heat is thus made less oppressive along the coast, the beaches of New Jersey have rapidly built up with towns and cities that have become popular summer resorts—among the best known of these are Long Branch, Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Atlantic City (also a winter resort) and Cape May. Among the interior resorts are Lakewood, a fashionable winter resort, and Lake Hopatcong, and Greenwood Lake and surrounding regions, much frequented in the summer. In the summer the prevailing winds throughout the state are from the S.W.; in the winter, from the N.W. The normal annual precipitation is 47·7 in., varying from 46·6 in. on the sea-coast to 49·1 in. in the Highlands and the Kittatinny Valley. Precipitation is from 1 to 3 in. greater in the summer than in the other seasons, which differ among themselves very little in the average amount of rainfall. From December to March, inclusively, part of the precipitation is in the form of snow. In the extreme S. there is more rain than snow in the winter; but no part of the state is free from snow storms. In the summer thunder storms are frequent, but are generally local in extent, and are much more common in the afternoon and early evening than in the morning.
Soils.—The soils of the state exhibit great variety. Those of the northern and central sections are made up in part of glacial drift; those of the S. are sandy or loamy, and are locally enriched by deposits of marl. The most fertile soils of the state lie in the clay and marl region, a belt from 10 to 20 m. wide extending across the state in a general south-westerly direction from Long Branch to Salem. South of this belt the soils are generally sandy and are not very fertile except at altitudes of less than 50 ft., where they are loamy and of alluvial origin.
Agriculture.—In 1900 very little more land was under cultivation than in 1850, the total acreage for these years being respectively 2,840,966 and 2,752,946. The number of farms, however, increased from 23,905 to 34,294, and the average size of the farms decreased from 115·2 acres to 82 acres, an indication that agriculture gradually became more intensive. In 1900, 22% of the farms contained from 20 to 50 acres, 48·3%, 50–175 acres and only 7·8% contained over 175 acres. Farms were smallest in Hudson county, where the average size was 7·9 acres, and largest in Sussex county, where the average size was 143·4 acres. The counties with the largest total acreage were Burlington (343,096), Sussex (256,896) and Hunterdon (248,733). Between 1880 and 1900 the percentage of farms operated by owners decreased from 75·4 to 70·1; the percentage of cash tenants increased from 10·5 to 15·3; and that of share tenants remained about stationary, being 14·1 in 1880 and 14·6 in 1900. In this last year 27·5% of the farms derived their principal income from live stock, 20·3% from vegetables, 17·2% from dairy produce, 7·8% from fruits and 7·8% from hay and grain.
In 1907, according to the Year Book of the United States Department of Agriculture, the principal crops were: hay, 634,000 tons ($10,778,000); potatoes, 8,400,000 bushels ($6,216,000); Indian corn, 8,757,000 bushels ($5,517,000); wheat, 1,998,000 bushels ($1,958,000); rye, 1,372,000 bushels ($1,043,000); oats, 1,770,000 bushels ($991,000). The number and value of each of the various classes of live stock in the state on the 1st of January 1908 were as follows: horses, 102,000 ($11,526,000); mules, 5000 ($675,000); milch cows, 190,000 ($8,170,000); other neat cattle, 82,000 ($1,722,000); sheep, 44,000 ($220,000); swine, 155,000 ($1,555,000). In 1899, 5959 farms were classified as dairy farms, i.e. they derived at least 40% of their income from dairy products; and the total value of dairy products was $8,436,869, the larger items being $6,318,568 for milk sold and $818,624 for butter sold. Poultry raising also is an important agricultural industry: poultry in the state was valued at $1,300,853 on the 1st of June 1900; and for the year 1899 the value of all poultry raised was $2,265,816, and the value of eggs was $1,938,304. In the production of cereals the state has not taken high rank since the development of the wheat fields of the western states; but in 1899 the acreage in cereals was 45·4% of the acreage in all crops, and the value of the yield was 25·3% of that of all crops. Of the total acreage in cereals in 1907, 278,000 acres were in Indian corn; 108,000 in wheat; 78,000 in rye; and 60,000 in oats. The chief cereal-producing counties in 1899 were Burlington, Hunterdon, Monmouth and Salem. The most valuable field crop in 1907 was hay and forage, consisting mostly of clover and cultivated grasses; in 1899 the value of this crop was 20·2% of that of all crops.
Since 1830 market gardening in New Jersey has become increasingly important, especially in the vicinity of large cities, and has proved more profitable than the growing of cereals. In the total acreage devoted to the raising of vegetables in marketable quantities New Jersey in 1900 was surpassed by only two other states. The value of the marketable vegetables in 1899 was $4,630,658, and the value of the total vegetable crop, $8,425,596, or 30·7% of that of all crops. Among the vegetables grown the potato is the most important; in 1907 there were 70,000 acres in potatoes, yielding 8,400,000 bushels, valued at $6,216,000. Between 1899 and 1907 the value of the potato crop more than doubled. In 1899 the state also produced 5,304,503 bushels of tomatoes; 2,418,641 bushels of sweet potatoes; 2,052,200 bunches of asparagus; 17,890,980 heads of cabbage; 21,495,940 musk melons; 3,300,330 water melons; and 1,015,111 bushels of sweet corn. Fruit-growing has also attained considerable importance. In 1899 the total value of the crop was $4,082,788; the value of the orchard fruit was $2,594,981; of small fruits, $1,406,049; and of grapes, $81,758. Peaches grow in all parts of the state, but most of the crop comes from Hunterdon, Sussex and Somerset counties. Apples are grown there and also in the western part of Burlington county. In the decade 1889–1899 the apple crop increased from 603,890 to 4,640,896 bushels. In Monmouth, Camden and parts of Burlington and Gloucester counties great quantities of pears are grown. Atlantic, Burlington, Camden and Salem counties are the great centres for strawberries; Atlantic, Cumberland and Salem counties lead in grape-growing; and a large huckleberry crop is yearly gathered in “the Pines.” In 1899 New Jersey produced nearly a fourth of the cranberry crop of the United States, the chief centre of production being the bogs of Burlington and Ocean counties. Other fruits grown in considerable quantities are cherries, plums, blackberries and raspberries.
Minerals and Mining.—In 1907 the total value of the state's mineral products was $32,800,299. Clays of different degrees of value are found in nearly every section, but the principal clay mining areas are: the Middlesex county area, where the best clays are found along the Raritan river and the coast; the Trenton area, in which clay is mined chiefly at Dogtown, E. of Trenton; the Delaware river area, in the vicinity of Palmyra; and the Woodmansie area, in Ocean county. As the clay pits contain only small amounts of any one kind of clay, it has proved more profitable for manufacturers to buy their raw materials from a number of miners than for them to operate the mines themselves, and consequently clay mining and the manufacture of clay products are largely distinct industries. In New Jersey the mining of clays is more important than in any other state, the amount mined and sold in 1902 being a third of the entire output of the United States, and the amount in 1907 (440,138 tons) being more than one-fifth of all clay mined and sold in the United States; and in 1907 in the value of clay products ($16,005,460; brick and tile, $9,019, 834, and pottery, $6,985,626) New Jersey was outranked only by Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Warren and Sussex counties are abundant materials for the manufacture of Portland cement, an industry that has attained importance since 1892; in the value of its product in 1907 ($4,738,516) New Jersey was surpassed only by Pennsylvania. Granite is found in Morris and Sussex counties, but is not extensively quarried; there are extensive quarries of sandstone in the Piedmont
- ↑ The amount of timber cut within the state is very small. Before the introduction of coal and coke as fuel in the forges and furnaces the cutting of young trees for the manufacture of charcoal was a profitable industry, and the process of deforestation reached its maximum. Since 1860 the forest area has only slightly diminished, and the condition of the timber has improved, but large trees are still scarce.
