14,747 sq. m.; and the Delaware 6443 sq. m. The Susquehanna
is a wide and shallow stream with a zigzag course and numerous
islands, but both the Susquehanna and the Delaware, together
with their principal tributaries, flow for the most part transverse
to the geological structure, and in the gorges and water-gaps through
which they pass ridges in the mountain region, is some of the most
picturesque scenery in the state; a number of these gorges, too,
have been of great economic importance as passages for railways.
The lower portion of the Delaware river has been entered by the
sea as the result of the depression of the land, giving a harbour, at
the head of which developed the city of Philadelphia. The present
course of the Upper Allegheny river is the result of the glacier
which blocked the northward drainage of the region through
which it flows and turned it southward. The Monongahela is an
older stream, but like the Allegheny, it meanders much, and both
rivers flow in deeply intrenched valleys. The few small lakes
of the state are mostly on the Pocono plateau, where they were
formed by glaciation; here, too, are some streams with picturesque
cascades.
Fauna.—Under the protection of a game commission which was created in 1895, of some game preserves which have been established by this commission, and of various laws affecting wild animals and birds, the numbers of Virginia deer, black bear, rabbits, ruffed grouse, quail and wild turkeys have increased until in some of the wilder sections they are quite plentiful, while the numbers of weasels, minks, lynx and foxes have been diminished. Squirrels, racoons, woodchucks and skunks are common, and musk-rats, porcupines and opossums are found in some sections. Two species of venomous snakes—the rattlesnake and the copper-head—occur in the sparsely settled regions. The avifauna include—among the birds of prey—the red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawk, marsh hawk, Cooper’s hawk, sharp-shinned hawk and sparrow hawk; the great horned owl, the barn owl and the screech owl; and bald eagles are not uncommon in the mountainous regions along the larger rivers. The “turkey-buzzard”—turkey-vulture—(very valuable as a scavenger) is seen occasionally, especially in the south and south-west. The game birds include the ruffed grouse, quail and English pheasant (which have increased rapidly under protection), besides woodcock, snipe, many species of ducks and a few Canada geese. The song and insectivorous birds—thrushes, flycatchers, vireos and woodpeckers—of this latitude, are well represented, and the high plateaus (particularly the Pocono plateau) have especial ornithological interest as the tarrying-places, during the migratory seasons, of many species of birds whose natural breeding ground is much farther north. Perch, sunfish, trout, bass, pike and pickerel abound in many of the streams. Yellow perch are especially plentiful in the lakes on the Pocono plateau. Pike-perch and a few blue pike are taken in the Susquehanna, where shad are no longer plentiful since work was begun on McCall’s Ferry dam, and in 1908 the entire catch for the river was valued at about $20,000, but in the Delaware there are valuable shad and herring fisheries. The blue pike, whitefish and herring, obtained on Lake Erie are of considerable commercial importance. In 1908 the total catch on Lake Erie was valued at $200,869, the principal items being herring ($90,108), blue pike ($13,657) and whitefish ($31,580). The catch of herring was twice as much in 1908 as in 1907 and that of whitefish nearly four times as much in 1908 as in 1907; this increase was attributed to the work of the state hatcheries. There were eight hatcheries in 1910 and the number of fish distributed from these during 1908 was about 662,000,000; they consisted chiefly of pickerel, yellow perch, wall-eyed pike, white fish, herring, blue pike, trout and shad.
Flora.—Except on some portions of the Pocono plateau, Pennsylvania was originally well forested, and, although most of the merchantable timber has been cut, about one-half of the state is still woodland. On the higher elevations the trees are mostly white pine, yellow pine and hemlock, but in the valleys and lower levels are oaks, hickories, maples, elms, birches, locusts, willows, spruces, gums, buckeyes, the chestnut, black walnut, butternut, cedar, ash, linden, poplar, buttonwood, hornbeam, holly, catalpa, magnolia, tulip-tree, Kentucky coffee-tree, sassafras, wild cherry, pawpaw, crab-apple and other species. The flora is most varied in the Susquehanna Valley below Harrisburg, and on Presque Isle are some plants peculiar to the Lake region. The state has forest reserves (918,000 acres in 1910) in 26 counties, the largest areas being in Potter, Clinton, Center, Cameron, Lycoming, Huntingdon, Union and Mifflin counties; and there is an efficient department of forestry under a state commissioner of forestry. A state forest academy (the only one in the United States) is at Mont Alto, where there is one of the three state nurseries; its first class graduated in 1906. In 1909 the state legislature passed an act authorizing any city, borough or township of the first class to acquire, subject to the approval of the commissioner of forestry, a municipal forest; and it authorized the distribution of seedling forest trees, at cost, to those who would plant and protect them, for growing private forests.
Climate.—The temperature is quite mild and equable in the south-east province where the ocean influences it and where the mountains bounding it on the north and north-west are some protection from the colder winds. The crests of the higher ridges in the central province are delightfully cool in summer, but the adjacent valleys are subject to excessive heat in summer and severe cold in winter. The mean annual temperature decreases to the north-westward on the Alleghany plateau, but on the Erie plain, in the extreme north-west, Lake Erie exerts its moderating influence, the mean temperature rises, and extremes shorten. The mean annual temperature in the south-east province is about 52° F.; it decreases to 50° in the central province and to 47° or less in some of the north-west counties of the Alleghany plateau, but rises to 49° on the shore of Lake Erie. At Philadelphia the mean temperature in winter (December, January and February) is 34°, the mean temperature in summer (June, July and August) is 74°, and the range of extremes here for a long period of years ending with 1907 was within 103° and 6°. At Huntingdon, Huntingdon county, in the Juniata Valley, the winter mean is 30°, the summer mean 71°, and within the period from 1888 to 1907 extremes ranged from 104° to 23°. The summer maxima on the mountains are usually 8° to 10° less than in the valleys directly below them; Saegerstown, Crawford county, is nearly 30 m. south of Erie, on Lake Erie, and yet the winter mean is 28° at Erie and only 25° at Saegerstown, and the lowest temperature on record for Erie is −16° while for Saegerstown it is −27°. During the period from 1875 to 1905 inclusive, extremes within the state ranged from 107° at York, York county, in July 1901, to −42° at Smithport, McKean county, in January 1904. July is the warmest month in all parts of the state. January is the coldest in some and February in others. The average annual rainfall is 44 in. It is 50 in. or more in some regions along the south-east border of the mountain district or farther south-east where the rains are occasionally heavy, and it is less than 40 in. in some of the north-east and south-west counties. The amount of rainfall during the summer is about 3 in. more than that during either autumn or winter and 2 in. more than that during spring. In the mountain region and in the vicinity of Lake Erie there is often a fall of several inches of snow during the winter months and the rapid melting of this produces floods on the Delaware, Susquehanna and Ohio rivers and some of their tributaries. The prevailing winds are westerly, but they are frequently interrupted by warm breezes from the south, or moisture-bearing currents from the east.
Soils.—The most productive soil is that in the south-east section of the Great Valley and in Chester Valley where it is derived largely from limestone. There is some of the same formation as well as that derived from red shales on the sandstone hills in the south-east province and in many of the middle and western valleys, but often a belt of inferior slate soil adjoins a limestone belt, and many of the ridges are covered with a still more sterile soil derived from white and grey sandstones. The north-west and north-east sections contain some glacial drift but the soil in these parts is not suitable for cultivation except in the larger valleys in the north-west where it is drained by glacial gravel or there is some sandy loam mixed with clay.
Agriculture.—Pennsylvania is noted for its mineral wealth and manufactures rather than for its agricultural resources, but in 1900 about two-thirds of its land was included in farms, a little more than two-thirds of its farm-land was improved, and in several crops the state has long ranked high. The number of farms increased from 127,577 in 1850 to 224,248 in 1900, the increase resulting in part from a reduction of their size but more largely from the appropriation of new lands for farming purposes. The average size in 1900 was 86·4 acres. Nearly 60% of them contained less than 100 acres and only about 2·7% contained 260 acres or more. More than seven-tenths (160,105) were worked by owners or part owners, and only 34,529 by share tenants, and 23,737 by cash tenants. Hay, Indian corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, fruits, vegetables and tobacco are the principal crops. Of the total crop acreage in 1899 nearly two-fifths was devoted to hay and forage, and the value of the hay crop in 1909[1] (when the crop was 3,742,000 tons, valued at $54,633,000) was greater than that of any other state in the Union except New York. Hay is grown in largest quantities in the north, and in the section south-east of Blue Mountain. More than one-half of the crop acreage in 1899 was devoted to cereals, and of the total cereal acreage 32% was of wheat, 31·2% was of Indian corn, 24·8% was of oats, 6·5% was of rye, and 5·3% was of buckwheat. The product of Indian corn was 48,800,000 bushels in 1909; of wheat 26,265,000 bushels; of oats 25,948,000 bushels; of barley 196,000 bushels; of rye 5,508,000 bushels; and of buckwheat 5,665,000 bushels.
Indian corn, wheat and rye, are cultivated most extensively in the south-east counties. Some of the larger oat-producing counties also are in the south-east, but most of the buckwheat, barley and oats are grown in the north and west counties. The dairy business, for which much of the hay crop is needed, has grown with the growth of the urban population as is shown in part by a steady increase in the number of dairy cows from 530,224 in 1850 to 1,140,000 in 1910; the value of the dairy products in 1899 ($35,860,110) was exceeded only in New York. The number of other cattle has fluctuated somewhat, but there were 917,000 in 1910 as against 623,722 in 1850. Horses increased in number
- ↑ Statistics for 1909 and 1910 are from the Year Book of the United States Department of Agriculture.
