AGRICULTURE, BANKING, AND CARRIER
the business of the people. It is also true that in North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, mining furnishes a field for the employment of labor, capital, and brains, but upon the wise and efficient use of the soil depends, more than upon all else, the future prosperity of the American Northwest.
Consider for a moment some of the figures about people engaged in agriculture and the results obtained in the American Northwest.
| 1880 | 1890 | |
| All land in farms (acres) | 23,561,289 | 124,345,917 |
| Improved land in farms (acres) | 11,540,115 | 72,992,996 |
| Land capable of being farmed and not in use (acres) | 12,021,174 | 51,352,921 |
| Number of farms | 135,971 | 466,856 |
| 1879 | 1909 | |||
| Bushel | Value not available | Bushel | Value | |
| Wheat | 47,842,928 | “ | 290,801,583 | $267,708,909 |
| Oats | 32,919,797 | “ | 252,593,225 | 96,305,612 |
| Barley | 5,048,623 | “ | 97,253,571 | 47,696,131 |
| Corn | 17,020,707 | “ | 130,004,006 | 60,400,992 |
| Flaxseed | 174,300 | “ | 18,731,213 | 28,031,509 |
| Total | 103,006,335 | “ | 789,384, 598 | $500,143,153 |
| Tons | Tons | |||
| Hay and Forage | 2,420,913 | 18,954,653 | $111,154,653 | |
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