live-stock societies in the United Kingdom are
published annually in the Live Stock Journal Almanac.
The Maintenance of the Health of Live Stock.
It was not till the closing decade of the 19th century that
the stock-breeders of the United Kingdom found themselves in
a position to prosecute their industry free from the fear of
the introduction of contagious disease through the medium of
store animals imported from abroad for fattening on the native
pastures. By the Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict.
c. 15) it was provided that cattle, sheep and pigs imported
into the United Kingdom should be slaughtered at the place of
landing. The effect was to reduce to a minimum the risk
of the introduction of disease amongst the herds and flocks
of the country, and at the same time to confine the trade in
store stock exclusively to the breeders of Great Britain and
Ireland. This arrangement makes no difference to the food-supply
of the people, for dead meat continues to arrive at British
ports in ever-increasing quantity. Moreover, live animals are
admitted freely from certain countries, provided such animals are
slaughtered at the place of landing. At Deptford, for example,
large numbers of cattle and sheep which thus arrive--mainly
from Argentina, Canada and the United States--are at once
slaughtered, and so furnish a steady supply of fresh-killed
beef and mutton. The animals which are shipped in this way
are necessarily of the best quality, because the freight
on a superior beast is no more costly than on an inferior
one, and the proportion of freight to sale price is therefore
less. With this superior description of butchers' stock all
classes of home-grown stock--good, bad and indifferent--have,
of course, to compete. The Board of Agriculture has the power
to close the ports of the United Kingdom against live animals
from any country in which contagious disease is known to
exist. This accounts for the circumstance that so few
countries--none of them in Europe--enjoy the privilege of
sending live animals to British ports. In 1900 the discovery
early in the year of the existence of foot-and-mouth disease
amongst cattle and sheep shipped from Argentina to the United
Kingdom led to the issue of an order by which all British
ports were closed against live animals from the country
named. This order came into force on the 30th of April, and
the result was a marked decline in the shipments of live cattle
and sheep from the River Plate, but a decided increase in the
quantity of frozen meat sent thence to the United Kingdom.
The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed an important
change in the attitude of public opinion towards legislative
control over the contagious diseases of animals. When, after
the introduction of cattle plague or rinderpest in 1865, the
proposal was made to resort to the extreme remedy of slaughter
in order to check the ravages of a disease which was pursuing
its course with ruinous results, the idea was received with
public indignation and denounced as barbarous. Views have
undergone profound modification since then, and the most
drastic remedy has come to be regarded as the most effective,
and in the long run the least costly. The Cattle Diseases
Prevention Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 2) made compulsory the
slaughter of diseased cattle, and permitted the slaughter
of cattle which had been exposed to infection, compensation
being provided out of the rates. The Act 30 & 31 Vict. c.
125, 1867, is of historical interest, in that it contains
the first mention of pleuro-pneumonia, and the exposure in
any market of cattle suffering from that disease was made an
offence. The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869 (32 & 33
Vict. c. 70) revoked all former acts, and defined disease to
mean cattle plague, pleuro-pneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease,
sheep-pox, sheep-scab and glanders, together with any disease
which the Privy Council might by order specify. The principle
of this act in regard to foreign animals was that of free
importation, with power for the Privy Council to prohibit or
subject to quarantine and slaughter, as circumstances seemed to
require. The act of 1869 was at that time the most complete
measure that had ever been passed for dealing with diseases of
animals. The re-introduction of cattle plague into England
in 1877 led to the passing of the Act 41 & 42 Vict. c. 74,
1878, which repealed the act of 1869, and affirmed as a
principle the landing of foreign animals for slaughter only,
though free importation or quarantine on the one hand and
prohibition on the other were provided for in exceptional
circumstances. By an order of council which came into
operation in December 1878, swine fever was declared to be
a disease for the purposes of the act of that year. It was
not, however, till October 1886 that anthrax and rabies were
officially declared to be contagious diseases for the purposes
of certain sections of the act of 1878. In 1884 the Act 47
& 48 Vict. c. 13 empowered the Privy Council to prohibit the
landing of animals from any country in respect of which the
circumstances were not such as to afford reasonable security
against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease. After one
or two other measures of minor importance came the Act 53 &
54 Vict. c. 14, known as the Pleuro-pneumonia Act 1890, which
transferred the powers of local authorities to slaughter and
pay compensation in cases of pleuro-pneumonia to the Board of
Agriculture, and provided further for the payment of such
compensation out of money specifically voted by parliament.
This measure was regarded at the time as a marked step in
advance, and was only carried after a vigorous campaign in its
favour. In 1892 by the Act 55 & 56 Vict. c. 47 power was given
to the Board of Agriculture to use the sums voted on account
of pleuro-pneumonia for paying the costs involved in dealing
with foot-and-mouth disease; under this act the board could
order the slaughter of diseased animals and of animals in
contact with these, and could pay compensation for animals so
slaughtered. Under the provisions of the Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 43) swine fever in
Great Britain was, from the 1st of November in that year,
dealt with by the Board of Agriculture in the same way as
pleuro-pneumonia, the slaughter of infected swine being
carried out under directions from the central authority, and
compensation allowed from the imperial exchequer. In 1894 was
passed the Diseases of Animals Act (57 & 58 Vict. c. 57), the
word ``contagious'' being omitted from the title. This was a
measure to consolidate the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts
1878-1893. In it ``the expression `disease' means cattle
plague (that is to say, rinderpest, or the disease commonly
called cattle plague), contagious pleuro-pneumonia of
cattle (in this act called pleuro-pneumonia), foot-and-mouth
disease, sheep-pox, sheep-scab, or swine fever (that is to
say, the disease known as typhoid fever of swine, soldier
purples, red disease, hog cholera or swine plague).'' The
Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 15) rendered
compulsory the slaughter of imported live stock at the place
of landing, a boon for which British stock-breeders had
striven for many years. The ports in Great Britain at which
foreign animals may be landed are Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow,
Hull, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Animals from the Channel Islands may be landed at Southampton.
The Diseases of Animals.
Under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1894 and 1896 weekly
returns are issued by the Board of Agriculture of outbreaks of
anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, glanders (including farcy),
pleuro-pneumonia, rabies and swine fever in the counties of
Great Britain; also monthly returns of outbreaks of sheep-scab.
Cattle plague, or rinderpest, has not been recorded in Great
Britain since 1877. In that year there were 47 outbreaks
distributed over five counties and involving 263 head of cattle.
The course of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain between
1877 and 1905 inclusive is told in Table XX., from which the
TABLE XX.--Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Great Britain,
1877-1905.
Animals attacked.
Out Other
Year. Counties. Breaks. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Animals.
1877 55 858 5,640 7,405 2,099
1878 45 235 912 8,609 245
1879 29 137 261 15,681 5
1880 38 1,461 20,918 9,572 1,886 2
1881 49 4,833 59,484 117,152 6,330 80
1882 49 1,970 23,973 11,412 2,564 1
1883 75 18,732 219,289 217,492 24,332 32
1884 55 949 12,186 14,174 1,860 1
1885 10 30 354 34 30
1886 1 1 10
1892 15 95 1,248 3,412 107
1893 2 2 30
1894 3 3 7 261
1900 9 21 214 50 2
1901 3 12 43 626
1902 1 1 2 118
years 1887 to 1891, 1895 to 1899 and 1903 to 1905 inclusive are
omitted, because there was no outbreak during those periods. The
disease is seen to have attained its maximum virulence in 1883.
Sheep-scab is a loathsome skin disease due to an acarian
parasite. Table XXI. shows the number of outbreaks and the
number of counties over which they were distributed from 1877 to
1905. The recorded outbreaks were more numerous in the
decade of the 'nineties than in that of the 'eighties, though
possibly this may have been due to greater official activity
in the later period. The largest number of sheep attacked was
TABLE XXI.--Outbreaks of Sheep-Scab in Great Britain,
1877-1905.
Year. Counties. Outbreaks. Year. Counties. Outbreaks.
1877 77 3214 1890 75 1506
1880 70 1556 1895 88 3092
1885 69 1512 1900 78 1939
1905 73 918
68,715 (in 1877). It is compulsory on owners to notify
the authorities as to the existence of scab amongst their
sheep. By the Diseases of Animals Act(1903) powers to
prescribe the dipping of sheep, irrespective of the presence
or otherwise of sheep scab, were conferred upon the Board of
Agriculture. An inspector of the board or of the local
authority was by the same act authorized to enter premises
and examine sheep. Each year the disorder runs a similar
course, the outbreaks dwindling to a minimum in the summer
months, June to August, and attaining a maximum in the winter
months, December to February. It is chiefly in the ``flying''
flocks and not in the breeding flocks that the disease is
rife, and it is so easily communicable that a drove of
scab-infested sheep passing along a road may leave behind
them traces sufficient to set up the disorder in a drove of
healthy sheep that may follow. For its size and in relation
to its sheep population Wales harbours the disease to a far
greater extent than the other divisions of Great Britain.
The fatal disease known as anthrax did not form the
subject of official returns previous to the passing of
the Anthrax Order of 1886. Isolated outbreaks are of
common occurrence, and from the totals for Great Britain
given in Table XXII. it would appear that there is little
prospect of the eradication of this bacterial disorder.
Glanders (including farcy) was the subject during the twenty-four
years 1877-1900 of outbreaks in Great Britain ranging between
a minimum of 518 in 1877 and a maximum of 1657 in 1892; in
the former year 758 horses were attacked, and in the latter
3001. A recrudescence of the disease marked the closing years
of the 19th century, the outbreaks having been 748 in 1898,
853 in 1899 and 1119 in 1900. The counties of Great Britain
over which the annual outbreaks have been distributed have
ranged between 24 in 1890 and 52 in 1879. As a matter of fact,
TABLE XXII.--Outbreaks of Anthrax in Great Britain,
1895-1905.
Animals Attacked.
Year. Counties. Outbreaks. Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Horses.
1895 66 434 604 158 140 32
1896 64 488 632 34 200 38
1897 67 433 521 39 284 38
1898 73 556 634 22 161 39
1899 67 534 634 69 253 30
1900 74 571 668 40 204 44
1901 63 651 708 76 152 35
1902 71 678 746 50 192 44
1903 78 767 809 48 234 51
1904 77 1049 1115 62 365 47
1905 84 970 1001 53 210 53
however, the disease is strongly centred upon the
metropolitan area, more than half of the outbreaks
being reported from the county of London alone.
The rabies order was passed in 1886, and the number of counties
in Great Britain in which cases of rabies in dogs were reported
in each subsequent year is shown in Table XXIII. In addition
there have been some cases of rabies in animals other than
dogs. The disease was very rife in 1895, but the extensive
application of the muzzling restrictions of the Board of
Agriculture was accompanied by so steady a diminution in the
TABLE XXIII.--Cases of Rabies in Dogs in Great Britain,
1887-1902.
Year. Counties. Cases. Year. Counties. Cases.
1887 28 217 1895 29 672
1888 19 160 1896 41 438
1889 20 312 1897 30 151
1890 20 129 1898 10 17
1891 17 79 1899 4 9
1892 12 38 1900 2 6
1893 18 93 1901 1 1
1894 17 248 1902 4 13
prevalence of the disease, that it was thought the latter had
been extirpated. The entire revocation of the muzzling order,
which accordingly followed, proved, however, to be premature,
and it became necessary to reimpose it in the districts where
it had last been operative, namely, certain parts of South
Wales. No cases were reported in 1903, 1904 or 1905.
Pleuro-pneumonia in Great Britain was dealt with by the
local authorities up to the year 1890. Between 1870 and
1889 the annual outbreaks had ranged between a minimum
of 312 in 1884 and a maximum of 3262 in 1874, the largest
number of cattle attacked in any one year being 7983 in
1872. The largest number of counties over which thin outbreaks
were distributed was 72 in 1873. On the 1st of September
1890 the Board of Agriculture assumed powers with respect to
pleuro-pneumonia under the Diseases of Animals Act of that
year. Their administration was attended by success, for
from 192 outbreaks in Great Britain in 1891 the total fell
to 35 in 1892 and to 9 in 1893. In the four subsequent
years, 1894-1897, the outbreaks numbered 2, 1, 2, and 7
respectively. In January 1898 an outbreak was discovered
in a London cow-shed. This proved to be the last case in
the 19th century of what at one time had been a veritable
scourge to cattle-owners and a source of heavy financial loss.
Between 1879 and 1892 inclusive, administration with regard to
swine-fever was entrusted to local authorities. The largest
number of outbreaks neported in any one of those years was 7926
in 1885, and the smallest 1717 in 1881. In 1893 the Board of
Agriculture took over the management, and Table XXIV. shows
the number of counties in which swine-fever existed, the number
of outbreaks confirmed and the number of swine slaughtered
by order of the board in each year since. The trouble with
this disease has been mainly in England, the outbreaks in
Wales and Scotland being comparatively few. What are termed
``swine-fever infected areas'' are scheduled by the board
when and where circumstances seem to require, and the movement
TABLE XXIV.--Outbreaks of Swine Fever in Great Britain,
1894-1905.
Swine slaughtered as
Outbreaks diseased, or as having been
Year. Counties. confirmed. exposed to infection.
1894 73 5682 56,296
1895 73 6305 69,931
1896 77 5166 79,586
1897 74 2155 40,432
1898 72 2514 43,756
1899 71 2322 30,797
1900 62 1940 17,933
1901 71 3140 15,237
1902 67 1688 8,263
1903 63 1478 7,933
1904 64 1196 5,603
1905 58 817 3,876
of swine within such areas is prohibited, much inconvenience
to trade resulting from restrictions of this kind. Frequently,
moreover, the exhibition of pigs at agricultural shows has to
be abandoned in consequence of these swine-fever regulations.
The Trade in Live Stock Between Ireland and Great Britain.
The compulsory slaughter at the place of landing does not
extend to animals shipped from Ireland into Great Britain,
and this is a matter of the highest importance to Irish
stock-breeders, who find their best market close at hand
on the east of St George's Channel. Table XXV. shows the
number of cattle, sheep and pigs shipped from Ireland into
Great Britain in each of the fifteen years 1891-1905, the
numbers of horses similarly shipped being also indicated.
On the average rather more than half the total of cattle
is made up of store animals for fattening or breeding
purposes, the fattening of Irish stores being a business of
considerable magnitude in Norfolk and other counties. Calves
constitute about one-twelfth of the total number of cattle.
TABLE XXV.--Imports of Live Stock from Ireland into Great
Britain, 1891-1905.
Year. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Horses.
1891 630,802 893,175 503,584 33,396
1892 624,457 1,080,202 500,951 32,481
1893 688,669 1,107,960 456,571 30,390
1894 826,954 957,101 584,967 33,589
1895 791,607 652,578 547,220 34,560
1896 681,560 737,306 610,589 39,856
1897 746,012 804,515 695,307 38,422
1898 803,362 833,458 588,785 38,804
1899 772,272 871,953 688,553 42,087
1900 745,519 862,263 715,202 35,606
1901 642,638 843,325 596,129 25,607
1902 959,241 1,055,802 637,972 25,260
1903 897,645 825,679 569,920 27,719
1904 772,363 739,266 505,080 27,500
1905 749,131 700,626 363,823 30,723
Most of the pigs sent from Ireland into Great Britain are fat,
the store pigs accounting for less than one-tenth of the total
number. The returns from Ireland under the Diseases of Animals
Acts 1894 and 1896 are less significant than those of Great
Britain. Thus, in the year ending June 1905, they included
4 outbreaks of anthrax, 219 of swine-fever and 343 of
sheep-scab, while there were no cases of rabies. Compared
with the export trade in live stock from Ireland to Great
Britain the reciprocal trade from Great Britain to Ireland
is small, and is largely restricted to animals for breeding
purposes. Owing to the reappearance of foot-and-mouth
disease in Great Britain early in 1900 the importation of
cattle, sheep, goats and swine therefrom into Ireland was
temporarily suspended by the authorities in the latter country.
Exports of Animals from the United Kingdom.
The general export trade of the United Kingdom in living animals
represented an aggregate average annual value over the five
years 1896-1900 of L. 1,017,000 as against L. 935,801 over the
five years 1901-1905. To these sums the value of horses alone
contributed about three-fourths, Belgium taking more than half
the number of exported horses. The export trade in cattle,
sheep and pigs is practically restricted to pedigree animals
required for breeding purposes, and though its aggregate value
TABLE XXVI.--Quantities and Value of Home-bred Live Stock
Exported from the United Kingdom, 1900-1905.
Other
Year. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Animals.
1900 30,038 2,742 4,934 435 75,642
1901 27,612 1,648 2,761 378 68,012
1902 30,032 2,428 3,596 515 60,941
1903 34,798 2,736 5,579 776 52,095
1904 32,955 3,311 8,142 732 50,873
1905 47,708 3,938 8,378 931 50,307
pounds pounds pounds pounds pounds
1900 681,927 118,337 53,306 3032 45,241
1901 605,699 61,812 25,727 3437 45,476
1902 635,661 96,153 29,069 5053 56,691
1903 734,598 140,244 67,758 7053 48,335
1904 581,339 146,210 88,421 7850 43,868
1905 875,647 190,406 133,413 8024 41,061
is not large it is of considerable importance to stock-breeders,
as it is a frequent occurrence for buyers for export--to
Argentina, Australasia, Canada, the United States and
elsewhere--to bid freely at the sale rings, and often to pay
the highest prices, thus stimulating the sales and encouraging
the breeding of the best types of native stock. Details
for the six years 1900-1905 are summarized in Table XXVI.
Implements and Machinery.
It is the custom of the Royal Agricultural Society of England
to invite competitions at its annual shows in specified
classes of implements, and an enumeration of these will
indicate the character of the appliances which were thus
brought into prominence in the latter years of the 19th and
the early years of the 20th century. These trials taking
place, with few intermissions, year after year serve to direct
the public mind to the development, which is continually
in progress, of the mechanical aids to agriculture. The
awards here summarized are quite distinct from those of
silver medals which are given by the society in the case
of articles possessing sufficient merit, which are entered
as ``new implements for agricultural or estate purposes.''
In 1875, at Taunton, special prizes were awarded for
one-horse and two-horse mowing-machines, hay-making machines,
horse-rakes (self-acting and not self-acting), guards to
the drums of threshing-machines, and combined guards and
feeders to the drums of threshing-machines. In 1876, at
Birmingham, the competitions were of self-delivery reapers,
one-horse reapers and combined mowers and reapers without
self-delivery. In 1878, at Bristol, the special awards were
all for dairy appliances --milk-can for conveying milk long
distances, churn for milk, churn for cream, butter-worker for
large dairies, butterworker for small dairies, cheese-tub,
curd knife, curd mill, cheese-turning apparatus, automatic
means of preventing rising of cream, milk-cooler and cooling
vat. A gold medal was awarded for a harvester and self-binder
(McCormick's). In 1879, at Kilburn, the competition was of
railway waggons to convey perishable goods long distances
at low temperatures. In 1880 at Carlisle, and in 1881 at
Derby, the special awards were for broadside steam-diggers
and string sheaf-binders respectively. In 1882, at Reading,
a gold medal was given for a cream separator for horse
power, whilst a prize of 100 guineas offered for the most
efficient and most economical method of drying hay or corn
crops artificially, either before or after being stacked,
was not awarded. In 1883, at York, a prize of L. 50 was
given for a butter dairy suitable for not more than twenty
cows. In 1884, at Shrewsbury, a prize of L. 100 was awarded
for a sheaf-binding reaper, and one of L. 50 for a similar
machine. In 1885, at Preston, the competitions were concerned
with two-horse, three-horse and four-horse whipple-trees,
and packages for conveying fresh butter by rail. In 1886,
at Norwich, a prize of L. 25 was awarded for a thatch-making
machine. In 1887, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, a prize of L. 200 went
to a compound portable agricultural engine, one of L. 100 to
a simple portable agricultural engine, and lesser prizes to
a weighing-machine for horses and cattle, a weighing-machine
for sheep and pigs, potato-raisers and one-man-power cream
separators. In 1888, at Nottingham, hay and straw presses for
steam-power, horse-power and hand-power were the subjects of
competition. In 1889, at Windsor, prizes were awarded
for a fruit and vegetable evaporator, a paring and coring
machine, a dairy thermometer, parcel post butter-boxes to
carry different weights. and a vessel to contain preserved
butter. In 1890, at Plymouth, competitions took place
of light portable engines (a) using solid fuel, (b)
using liquid or gaseous fuel, grist mills for use on a
farm, disintegrators, and cider-making plant for use on a
farm. In 1891, at Doncaster, special prizes were given
for combined portable threshing and finishing machines, and
cream separators (hand and power). In 1892, at Warwick,
the competitions related to ploughs--single furrow (a) for
light land, (b) for strong land, (c) for press drill and
broad-cast sowing; two-furrow; three-furrow; digging (a)
for light land, (b) for heavy land; and one-way ploughs. In
1893, at Chester, self-binding harvesters and sheep-shearing
machines (power) were the appliances respectively in
competition. In 1894, at Cambridge, the awards were for fixed
and portable oil engines, potato-spraying and tree-spraying
machines, sheep-dipping apparatus and churns. In 1895, at
Darlington, the competitions were confined to hay-making
machines and clover-making machines. In 1896, at Leicester,
prizes were awarded after trial to potato-planting machines,
potato-raising machines and butter-drying machines. In 1897,
at Manchester, special awards were made for fruit baskets and
milk-testers. In 1898, at Birmingham, a prize of L. 100 was
given for a self-moving vehicle for light loads, L. 100 and
L. 50 for self-moving vehicles for heavy loads, and L. 10 for
safety feeder to chaff-cutter, in accordance with the
Chaff-cutting Machines (Accidents) Act 1897. In 1899, at
Maidstone, special prizes were offered for machines for washing
hops with liquid insecticides, cream separators (power and
hand), machines for the evaporation of fruit and vegetables,
and packages for the carriage of (a) soft fruit, (b) hard
fruit. In 1900, at York, the competitions were concerned
with horse-power cultivators, self-moving steam diggers,
milking machines and sheep-shearing machines (power and
hand). In 1901, at Cardiff, competition was invited in portable
oil engines, agricultural locomotive oil engines and small
ice-making plant suitable for a dairy. In the years 1903 and
1904 petrol motors adapted for ploughing and other agricultural
operations formed a prominent feature of the exhibits.
The progress of steam cultivation has not justified the hopes
that were once entertained in the United Kingdom concerning
this method of working implements in the field. It was about
the year 1870 that its advantages first came into prominent
notice. At that time, owing to labour disputes, the supply of
hands was short and horses were dear. The wet seasons that set
in at the end of the 'seventies led to so much hindrance in the
work on the land that the aid of steam was further called for,
and it seemed probable that there would be a lessened demand
for horse power. It was found, however, that the steam work
was done with less care than had been bestowed upon the horse
tillage, and the result was that steam came to be regarded as
an auxiliary to horse labour rather than as a substitute for
it. In this capacity it is capable of rendering most valuable
assistance, for it can be utilized in moving extensive areas
of land in a very short time. Accordingly, when a few days
occur early in the season favourable to the working of the
land, much of it can be got into a forward condition, whilst
horses are set free for the lighter operations. The crops
can then be sown in due time, which in wet years, and with
the usual teams of horses kept on a farm, is not always
practicable. Much advantage arises from the steam working of
bastard fallows in summer, and after harvest a considerable
amount of autumn cultivation can be done by steam power,
thus materially lightening the work in the succeeding
spring. On farms of moderate size it is usual to hire steam
tackle as required, the outlay involved in the purchase of
a set being justifiable only in the case of estates or of
very big farms where, when not engaged in ploughing, or in
cultivating, or in other work upon the land, the steam-engine
may be employed in threshing, chaff-cutting, sawing and many
similar operations which require power. The labour question
again became acute in the early years of the 20th century,
when, owing to the scarcity of hands and the high rate of
wages, self-binding harvesters were resorted to in England
for the in-gathering of the corn crops to a greater extent
than ever before. For the same reason potato-planting and
potato-lifting machines were also in greater requisition.
Agricultural Population and Wages.
The last half of the 19th century witnessed a remarkable
diminution of the British rural population. The decrease
has assumed serious proportions since 1871, as before that
date the supply of rural labour exceeded the demand. A
large number of agricultural labourers were thus only in
partial employment, and their withdrawal from the land
was of minor importance as compared with the shrinkage in
the number of those permanently employed. The following
tables indicate the extent of rural depopulation:--
Number of ``Persons Engaged in Agriculture'' in the United
Kingdom, 1851-1901.
1851. 1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 1901.
3,453,500 3,080,500 2,744,000 2,573,900 2,394,500 2,262,600
The number of ``agricultural labourers and shepherds, which affords
a more precise index, declined in a still more marked degree.
1851. 1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 1901.
1,110,311 1,098,261 923,332 830,452 756,557 609,105
The decrease in the demand for labour is attributable
chiefly to the reduction of the cultivated area and the
laying down to pasture of land once under the plough, and
to the increasing use of agricultural machinery. It may
however, be noticed that the period was marked by a steady
increase of the cash wages of the farm labourer, as indicated
by the following table from the Report on the Earnings of
Agricultural labourers issued by the Board of Trade in 1905.
Average Weekly Cash Wages of Ordinary Agricultural
Labourers Employed on Certain Farms in England and Wales.
England and Wales, Eastern counties,
Year. 69 Farms. 12 Farms.
s. d. s. d.
1850 9 3 1/2 8 8
1855 10 11 1/2 11 5
1860 10 11 10 8
1865 11 3 10 5
1870 11 10 1/2 11 1 1/2
1875 13 7 12 11 1/2
1880 13 2 1/2 12 1
1885 13 1 11 5
1890 13 0 1/2 11 0 1/2
1895 13 2 1/2 11 0
1900 14 5 1/2 13 1 1/2
1903 14 7 13 2 1/2
(See also ALLOTMENTS AND SMALL HOLDINGS.)
Agricultural Education.
In Great Britain agricultural education as a whole lacks
the scope and co-ordination which it has in some continental
countries. Centres at which higher agricultural education
is given are, however, numerous. The chief are:--
The Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester
Aspatria Agricultural College, Carlisle.
Tamworth Agricultural College.
*Agricultural and Horticultural College, Uckfield, Sussex.
*Agricultural and Horticultural College, Holme Chapel, Cheshire.
*Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, Kingston, Derby.
*Harper-Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Salop.
*Lancashire County School, Harris Institute, Preston.
*University College of North Wales, Bangor.
*University of Leeds.
*Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
*Cambridge University.
*University College, Reading.
*South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye.
*University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
*Agricultural Institute, Ridgmont (Bedfordshire County Council).
*Essex County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford.
In the year 1904-1905 L. 10,600 was devoted by the Board of
Agriculture to agricultural instruction and experiments. Of
this sum the greater part was divided amongst the institutions
marked with an asterisk in the above list. The first three
named are private establishments. The county councils also
expend sums varying at their own discretion on instruction in
dairy-work, poultry-keeping, farriery and veterinary science,
horticulture, agricultural experiments, agricultural lectures
at various centres, scholarships at, and grants to, agricintural
colleges and schools; the whole amount in 1904-1905 reaching
L. 87,472.12 The sum spent by individual counties varies
considerably. In 1904-1905 Lancashire (L. 8510), Kent (L. 5922) and
Cheshire (L. 4310) spent most in this direction. In some
instances colleges are supported entirely by one county, as
is the Holmes Chapel College, Cheshire; in others a college
is supported by several affiliated counties, as in the case
of the agricultural department of the University College,
Reading, which acts in connexion with the counties of Berks,
Oxon, Hants and Buckingham. The organization and supply of
county agricultural instruction is often carried out through the
medium of the institution to which the county is affiliated.
In Scotland higher agricultural instruction is given at:-
Edinburgh and East of Scotland Agricultural College.
Edinburgh University, Agriculture Department.
West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow.
Aberdeen and North of Scotland Agricultural College.
University of St. Andrews.
A typical course at one of the higher colleges lasts for two
years and includes instruction under the heads of soils and
manure, crops and pasture, live stock, foods and feeding,
dairy work, farm and estate management and farm bookkeeping,
surveying, agricultural buildings and machinery, agricultural
chemistry, agricultural botany, veterinary science and agricultural
entomology. Experimental farms are attached to the colleges.
The facilities for intermediate are far inferior to those for
higher agricultural education. Schools for farmers' sons and
daughters, and others, answering to the ecoles pratiques
d'agriculture (see FRANCE), are few, the principal being
the Dauntsey Agricultural School, Wiltshire, the Hampshire
Farm School, Basing, and the Farm School at Newton Rigg,
Penrith, Cumberland, maintained by the county councils of
Cumberland and Westmorland. Occasionally grammar schools
have agricultural sides, and in evening continuation schools
agricultural classes are sometimes held. Both elementary
day schools and continuation schools are in many cases
provided with gardens in which horticultmal teaching is given.
In Ireland agricultural education is under the supervision of
the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for
Ireland, founded in 1899. Higher education is given at the
Royal College of Science, Dublin; the Albert Agricultural
College, Glasnevin; and the Munster Institute, Cork, for female
students, where dairying and poultry-keeping are prominent
subjects. Winter classes for boys over sixteen years of
age are held at centres in some counties, and there are
winter schools of agriculture at Downpatrick, Monaghan
and Mount Bellew (Co. Galway); while lectures are given at
farmers' meetings by itinerant instructors. The Department
carries on agricultural experiment-stations at Athenry
(Co. Galway), Ballyhaise (Co. Cavan) and Clonakilty (Co.
Cork), where farm apprentices are received and instructed.
Agriculture in the United States
Agriculture has been the chief and most characteristic work
of the American people, that in which they have achieved the
greatest results in proportion to the resources at command, that
in which their economic superiority has been most strikingly
manifest. In ten years from 1790, the mean population of the
period being 4,500,000, 65,000 sq. m. were for the first time
brought within the limits of settlement, crossed with roads and
bridges, covered with dwellings, both public and private, much
of it also cleared of primeval forest; and this in addition
to keeping up and improving the whole extent of previous
settlements, and building towns and cities, at a score of favoured
points. In the next decade, the mean number of inhabitants
being about 6,500,000, population extended itself over 98,000
sq. m. of absolutely new territory, an area eight times as
large as Holland. Between 1810 and 1820, besides increasing
the density of population on almost every league of the older
territory, besides increasing their manufacturing capital
twofold, in spite of a three years' war, the people of the
United States advanced their frontier to occupy 101,000 sq.
m., the mean population being 8,250,000. Between 1820 and
1830, 124,000 sq. m. were brought within the frontier and made
the seat of habitation and cultivation; between 1830 and 1840,
175,000 sq. m.; between 1840 and 1850, 215,000 sq. m. The Civil
War, indeed, checked the westward flow of population, though
it caused no refluence, but after 1870 great progress was
made in the creation of new farms and the development of old.
That which has allowed this great work to be done so rapidly
and fortunately has been, first, the popular tenure of the soil,
and, secondly, the character of the agricultural class. At
no time have the cultivators of the soil north of the Potomac
and Ohio constituted a peasantry in the ordinary sense of that
term. They have been the same kind of men, out of precisely
the same homes, generally with the same early training, as
those who filled the learned professions or who were engaged
in manufacturing or commercial pursuits. Switzerland and
Scotland have, in a degree, approached the United States in
this particular; but there is no other considerable country
where as much mental activity and alertness has been applied
to the cultivation of the soil as to trade and manufactures.
But even the causes which have been adduced would have failed
to produce such effects but for the exceptional inventive
ingenuity of the American. The mechanical genius which
has entered into manufacturing in the United States, the
engineering skill which has guided the construction of the
greatest works of the continent, have been far exceeded
in the hurried ``improvements'' of the pioneer farm; in
the housing of women, children and live stock and gathered
crops against the storms of the first few winters; in
the rough-and-ready reconnaissances which determined the
``lay of the land'' and the capabilities of the soil; in
the preparation for the thousand exigencies of primitive
agriculture. It is no exaggeration to say that the chief
manufacture of the United States, prior to 1900, was the
manufacture of 5,740,000 farms, comprising 841,200,000 acres.
The people of the United States, finding themselves on a
continent containing an almost limitless extent of land
of fair average fertility, having at the start but little
accumulated capital and urgent occasions for the economy of
labour, have elected to regard the land in the earliest
stages of occupation as practically of no value, and to regard
labour as of high value. In pursuance of this view they
have freely sacrificed the land, so far as was necessary, in
order to save labour, systematically cropping the fields on
the principle of obtaining the largest results with the least
expenditure, limiting improvements to what was demanded for
immediate uses, and caring little about returning to the
soil an equivalent for the properties taken from it in the
harvests of successive years. But, so far as the northern
states are concerned, the enormous profits of this alleged
wasteful cultivation have in the main been applied, not to
personal consumption, but to permanent improvements,--not
indeed to improvements of the land, but to what were still
more needed in the situation, namely, improvements upon the
land. The first-fruits of a virgin soil have been expended in
forms which have vastly enhanced the productive power of the
country. The land, doubtless, as one factor of that productive
power, became temporarily less efficient than it would have
been under a conservative European treatment; but the joint
product of the three factors--land, labour and capital--was
for the time enormously increased. Under this regimen
the fertility of the land, of course, in time necessarily
declined, sooner or later, according to the nature of the
crops grown and to the degree of original strength in the
soil. Resort was then had to new fields farther west. The
granary of the continent moved first to western New York,
thence into the Ohio valley, and then, again, to the banks
of the Mississippi. The north and south line dividing the
wheat product of the United States into two equal parts was
in 1850 drawn along the 82nd meridian (81 deg. 58 minutes 49
seconds). In 1860 that line was drawn along the 86th
(86 deg. 1 minute 38 seconds), in 1870 along the 89th (88 deg.
48 minutes 40 seconds), in 1880 along the 90th (90 deg. 30
minutes 46 seconds), in 1890 along the 93rd (93 deg. 9 minutes
18 seconds), and in 1900 along the 95th (94 deg. 59 minutes 23
seconds). Meanwhile one portion of the inhabitants of the
earlier settlements joined in the movement across the face
of the continent. As the grain centre passed on to the west
they followed it, too restless by character and habit to
find pleasure in the work of stable communities. A second
portion of the inhabitants became engaged in raising, upon
limited areas, small crops, garden vegetables and orchard
fruits, and in producing butter, milk, poultry and eggs, for
the suoply of the cities and manufacturing towns which had
been built up out of the abundant profits of the primitive
agriculture. Still another portion of the agricultural
population gradually became occupied in the more careful and
intense culture of the cereal crops upon the better lands, the
less eligible fields being allowed to spring up in brush and
wood. Deep ploughing and thorough drainage were resorted to;
fertilizers were employed to bring up and to keep up the soil;
and thus began the serious systematic agriculture of the older
states. Something continued to be done in wheat, but not
much. New York raised 13 million bushels in 1850; thirty
years later she raised 11 1/2 million bushels; and fifty years
later 10 1/2 million bushels. Pennsylvania raised 15 1/2 million
bushels in 1850; in 1880 she raised 19 1/2 million bushels; and
in 1900 20 1/2 million bushels. More is done in Indian corn
(maize), that most prolific cereal, the backbone of American
agriculture; still more is done relatively in buckwheat,
barley and rye. Pennsylvania, though the eleventh state in
wheat production in 1905, stood first in rye and second in
buckwheat (ninth in oats) New York was only twenty-first in
wheat, but first in buckwheat (tenth in barley), fourth in
rye. We do not, however, reach the full significance of
the situation until we account for the fourth portion of the
former agricultural population, in noting how naturally and
fortunately commercial and manufacturing cities spring up
in the sites which have been prepared for them by the lavish
expenditure of the enormous profits of a primitive agriculture
upon permanently useful improvements of a constructive
character. These towns are the gifts of agriculture.
Besides the extension of cultivated area, very little was
accomplished in the way of agricultural improvement before
1850. With some few exceptions the methods of cultivation were
substantially the same as those of colonial days, and were marked
by crudeness, waste and a general adherence to rule-of-thumb
principles. The year 1850 roughly marks the beginning of a
period of improvement and development. The Irish famine of
1846 and the German political troubles of 1848 were followed
by an unprecedented emigration to America of highly desirable
European labourers, for whom there were cheap and abundant
lands. The period from 1850 to 1870 was marked by a steady
growth, which, in the western states, was highly stimulated by
the Civil War. While this conflict withdrew a certain amount
of productive energy from agricultural pursuits, it tended
at the same time to increase the value of farm labour and of
farm products and to extend the use of machinery in order to
offset the deficient labour supply. Agricultural machinery
had been employed before the war, but only to a very small
extent. In 1864, 70,000 reapers and mowers were manufactured,
twice as many as in 1862, and manufacturers were unable to
supply the demand. Moreover, in the years 1860, 1861 and 1862
the wheat crops of Great Britain and the European continent
were failures, while those of the United States, far removed
from the theatre of military operations, were unusually
large. The wheat exports to Great Britain in 1861 were three
times as great as those of any previous year, and the strong
demand from abroad was an additional stimulus to higher
prices. In 1864 agricultural prices were from 100 to
200% higher than in 1861, while transportation charges had
only slightly advanced and in some instances had actually
decreased. In the middle of the war the farmers' profits
were normal; toward the end they had increased enormously.
This marvellous agricultural prosperity of a nation engaged
in one of the world's most formidable wars has no counterpart
in modern history. In the decade from 1860 to 1870 there
was a steady increase in cultivated area, in agricultural
products and in population. The value of the farm lands in
the northern states in 1870 exceeded that of 1860 by five
dollars an acre. On the other hand, the farm lands of the
southern states had declined in value to an almost equal
amount; but after 1870 these states also made substantial
progress, and in 1880 they produced more cotton than in 1860,
when the greatest crop under the slave system was grown.
Since 1870 the most important factors in this development have
been the employment of more scientific methods of production
and the more extensive use of machinery. The study of soils
with a view of adapting to them the most suitable crops and
fertilizers; the increased attention given to diversified
farming and crop rotation; the introduction and successful
growth of new plants (e.g. the date palm in Arizona and
California, and tea in South Carolina); tile drainage; the
ensilage of forage; more careful selection in breeding;
the use of inoculation to prevent Texas fever in cattle and
cholera in swine, of tuberculin to discover the presence
of tuberculosis in cows, of organic ferments to hasten
the progress of butter-making, of the ``Babcock test'' for
ascertaining the amount of fat in milk, of fungicides and
insecticides to destroy fruit and vegetable pests,--such are
but a few manifestations of the spread of scientific knowledge
among the farming population of the United States. Nearly
every county has some sort of agricultural society; in 1899
there were about 1500 of these organizations, some of which,
especially those holding annual fairs, received state aid.
With the improvement in technical processes of production
came the conquest of the arid regions of the western states.
Irrigation was first employed in the west by the Mormons in
1847; but as late as 1870 only about 20,000 acres had been
irrigated. In 1880 the irrigated area was approximately
1,000,000 acres, and in the decade from 1889 to 1899 it
increased from 3,631,381 to 7,539,545 acres, a gain of
107.6%. By 1902 there had been a still further increase to
9,478,852 acres, a gain of 25.7% in three years. As many
of the streams available for irrigation purposes lie within
more than one state, the control of water supply is a proper
matter for federal jurisdiction, and in June 1902 Congress
provided for an extensive system of irrigation works in
thirteen states and three territories. The cost of the work
is defrayed from the proceeds of the sales of government
lands within the states and territories affected by the
act. The measure is not paternalistic; the settlers on the
lands, which are divided into farms of not less than 40 nor
more than 160 acres, are required to make annual payments to
the government in proportion to the water service they have
received, until the original cost of the works has been
met. The first of these works, the so-called Truckee-Carson
project, of Nevada, was completed in June 1905, and at the
end of that year eight projects, in as many different states,
were under construction; bids had been received for three
more, and the seven others had received the approval of the
secretary of the interior. With these initial undertakings
it was estimated that 1,000,859 acres could be reclaimed.
In addition to supplying the soils with water, means have
been found of ridding them of their alkali, or of rendering
it harmless; and this is an element of reclamation hardly
less important than irrigation itself. A third step in the
reclamation of desert lands is arid farming--that is, the
adapting to the soils of crops that require a minimum amount of
moisture, and the utilization, to the fullest possible extent,
of the meagre amount of rainfall in the region. Experiments
conducted in this direction in Utah produced promising results.
The development of farming machinery has kept pace with the
general progress in scientific agriculture. Although numerous
patents were issued for such machinery before 1850, its use, with
the exception of the cotton gin, was very restricted before that
date. Even iron ploughs were not in general use until 1842,
and a really scientific plough was practically unknown before
1870. Thirty years later the large farms of the Pacific
states were ploughed, harrowed and sowed with wheat in a
single operation by fifty-horse-power traction engines drawing
ploughs, harrows and press drills. Since 1850 there has
been a transition from the sickle and the scythe to a machine
that in one operation mows, threshes, cleans and sacks the
wheat, and in five minutes after touching the standing grain
has it ready for the market. Hay-stackers, potato planters
and diggers, feed choppers and grinders, manure-spreaders,
check-row corn planters and ditch-digging machines are some
of the common labour-saving devices. By the 28th of August
1907 the United States Patent Office had issued patents for
13,212 harvesting machines, 6352 threshers, 6680 harrows and
diggers, 9649 seeders and planters, and 13,171 ploughs. In the
manufacture of agricultural machinery the United States leads the
world. The total value of the implements and machinery used
by farmers of the United States in 1880 was $406,520,055; in
1890 $494,247,467; in 1900 $761,261,550, a gain in this last
decade of 54%. The total value of the implements and machinery
manufactured in 1850 was $6,842,611; in 1880 $68,640,486; in
1890 $81,271,651; in 1900 $101,207,428.These figures, however,
are a very poor indication of the actual use of machinery,
on account of the rapid decrease in prices following its
manufacture on a more extensive scale and by improved methods.
The effects of the new agriculture are apparent from the
following figures: By the methods of 1830 it required
64 hours and 15 minutes of man-labour and cost $3.71 to
produce an acre of wheat; by the methods employed in 1896
it required 2 hours and 58 minutes of man-labour and cost 72
cents. To produce an acre of barley in 1830 required 63 hours
of man-labour and cost $3.59; in 1896 it required 2 hours
and 43 minutes and cost 60 cents. An acre of oats produced
by the methods of 1830 required 66 hours and 15 minutes of
man-labour and cost $3.73; the methods of 1893 required only
7 hours and 6 minutes and cost $1.07. With the same unit of
labour the average quantity of all leading crops produced by
modern methods is about five times as great as that produced
by the methods employed in 1850, and the cost of production
is reduced by one half. From 1880 to 1900 the average number
of acres of leading crops per male worker increased from
23.3 to 31.0, or 34%; the number of horses per worker from
1.7 to 2.3, or 35%; and the value of agricultural product
per person employed from $286.82 to $454.37, or 58.4%.
There are numerous other factors that have operated to the
benefit of the agriculturist. Increased transportation
facilities and lower freight charges have widened his market.
The processes of canning, packing, preserving and refrigerating
have produced a similar effect, and have also provided a means
for the disposal of surplus perishable products that otherwise
would be lost. The utilization of by-products, as, for
example, the conversion of cotton seed into oil, fertilizers
and food for live stock, has become another source of profit.
Great economic and social changes have resulted from this
progress. There has been a great division of labour in
agriculture. Makers of agricultural implements, of butter
and cheese, cotton ginners, grist and wheat millers, are now
classed in the United States census reports as manufacturers,
but all their work was once done on the farm. The farmer
is now more of a specialist and more dependent on other
industries than formerly. He has changed from a producer for
home consumption or a local market to a producer for a world
market. Unfortunately, his knowledge of economic laws has
lagged behind his progress in scientific agriculture. The
farming class at times have experienced periods of great
depression, largely on account of their inability to adjust
their crops to changing conditions in the world's markets,
and in such cases have been prone to seek a remedy in radical
legislation. Periods of agricultural discontent at different times
have been marked by the political activity of the ``Grangers''
and of the ``Farmers' Alliance.'' and even by the formation
of new political parties such as the Greenback party in 1874
and the Populist or People's party in 1892--whose strength
lay mainly in the agricultural states. The new industrial
conditions that produced combinations among manufacturers
were much slower in their effect upon the farming element, but
gradually led to increasing co-operation and to the organization
of the growers of various commodities for marketing their
crops. The fruit growers of California and the tobacco
growers of Kentucky have furnished interesting examples of such
organizations. Under the improved conditions there is less
drudgery on the farm; the farmer does more work, produces
more, and yet has more leisure than formerly. Better roads,
rural free mail delivery, telephone and electric lines are
removing the isolation of country life, and to some extent are
diminishing the attractions of the cities for the rural population.
Covering as it does the breadth of the North American continent,
with 3,000,000 sq. m. of land surface, not including Alaska
and the islands, of which over 800,000,000 acres are in farms
and over 400,000,000 in actual cultivation, representing every
variety of soil and all the climatic life zones of the world,
except the extreme boreal and the hottest tropical, the United
States affords an important subject of study in respect of
agriculture. Its cotton, wheat and meat are large factors
in all markets,and its many other agricultural products are
distributed throughout the civilized world. To the student the
equipment and methods of agriculture in the United States form
as interesting a subject of examination as do its resources and
production. In quantity, distribution and inter-relation of heat
and moisture --the chief factors in agricultural production--the
United States is greatly blessed. We find in this vast
territory all the agricultural belts mapped by the biologist,
producing all varieties of cereals, fruits and breeds of live
stock, whilst all kinds of soils, adapted to different crops,
are spread out at all altitudes from 8000 ft. down to sea-level.
The story of the vast and varied agriculture of the United States
can be outlined by extracts from the figures published by the
Census, the Agricultural and other government departments.
Farms.
As a result of the great supply of available land the
number of farms in the United States increased between 1850
and 1900 from 1,449,073 to 5,739,657; their total acreage
increased from 293,560,614 to 841,201,546 acres; their
improved acreage increased from 113,032,614 to 414,793,191
acres; and their unimproved13 acreage from 180,528,000
to 426,408,355 acres. Table XXVII. exhibits the increases
of number of farms, total and improved acreage by decades.
The largest percentage of increase of improved land was 50.7,
from 1870 to 1880; the lowest was in the decade 1860 to 1870,
the period of the Civil War, and was 15.8. The chief cause
of this wonderful development of agriculture is the large area
of cheap public lands which has been available for immigrants
and natives alike. Up to 1906, under the Homestead Act of
the 20th of May 1862, the number of entries, both final and
pending, covered 185,385,000 acres. Between 1875 and 1905
the public and Indian lands sold for cash and under homestead
and timber culture laws, as well as those allotted by scrip,
granted to the colleges of agriculture 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
TABLE XXVII.--Percentage of Increase of Number and Acreage of
Farms by Census Decades.
Number of Acreage.
The United States. Farms. Total. Improved.
1850 to 1860 41.1 38.7 44.3
1860 to 1870 30.1 0.1 15.8
1870 to 1880 50.7 31.5 50.7
1880 to 1890 13.9 16.2 25.6
1890 to 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 for 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
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.
TABLE XXVIII.--Average Acreage of Farms and Proportion of
Improved Land Therein.
Proportion of
Whole Farm. 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 north 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 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 nrealy correct (Table XXX.).
The wages paid farm labourers, as ascertainted 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 wage 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.''
Value of farms and products.
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, the main classes being, in round
numbers:--Land, fences and buildings, $16,674,690,000; machines
TABLE XXIX.--Number of Farms of Specified Tenure.
Number of farms operated by
Number of Cash Share
Year. Farms. Owners. 14 Tenants. Tenants. 15
1880 4,008,907 2,984,306 322,357 702,244
1890 4,564,641 3,269,728 454,659 880,254
1900 5,737,372 3,712,408 751,665 1,273,299
Percentage of farms
Cash Share
Year. Owners. Tenants. Tenants.
1880 74.5 8.0 17.5
1890 71.6 10.0 18.4
1900 64.7 13.1 22.2
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%.
TABLE XXX.--Number of Persons of Ten Years of Age and over in
the different Agricultural Pursuits in 1900.
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 are 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.
TABLE XXXI.--Production of Certain Farm Crops from 1870 to 1905
--Millions of Bushels.
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
Table XXXII. gives important facts with regard to the cereal
production of the United States between 1870 and 1905.
The average farm price of wheat declined, as is shown in that
table, from $1.05 per bushel for the decade 1870-1880 to
65.3 cents for the period 1890-1899. The farm prices of the
other cereals declined less during the thirty years. Corn
declined from an average farm price of 42.6 cents per bushel
for 1870-1880 to 34.4. cents in 1890-1899. The average
production per acre shows nothing conclusice with regard to
the fertility of the soil of the country. The expansion of the
crop area usually causes a lowering of the average yield per
acre by distributing the culture, fertilizers, &c., over more
surface. Likewise the contraction of crop area will usually
increase the average yield per acre of the entire country.
TABLE XXXII.--Average Yield and Value of Cereal Crops in the United
States, by Periods of Years, 1870-1905.
Average Average Average Average
Farm Price Yield Per Farm Price Yield Per
Period. per Bushel. Acre. per Bushel. Acre.
Dollars. Bushels. Dollars. Bushels.
Indian Corn. Wheat.
1870 to 1880 0.426 27.1 1.05 12.4
1880 to 1889 .393 24.1 .827 12.1
1890 to 1899 .344 24.1 .653 13.1
1900 to 1905 .440 24.9 .706 13.6
Barley. Rye.
1870 to 1880 0.738 22.1 0.701 14.1
1880 to 1889 .589 21.7 .622 11.9
1890 to 1899 .433 23.3 .522 14.0
1900 to 1905 .433 25.9 .570 15.7
Oats.
1870 to 1880 0.353 28.4 0.715 17.7
1880 to 1889 .309 26.6 .642 12.8
1890 to 1899 .277 26.2 .507 16.8
1900 to 1905 .318 30.7 .588 17.9
The average yield of wheat per acre was 12.4 bushels in the
decade 1870-1880, and 13.1 in the period 1890-1899; of Indian
corn, 27.1 in 1870-1880, and 24.1 in 1880-1899 continuously.
Oats fell off from 28.4 in 1870-1880 to 26.2 bushels per acre
in 1890- 1899. The averages for the years 1900-1905 show an
increase over the previous decade both in yields and (with the
exception of the price of barley) in prices of all the cereals.
The agricultural returns for 1890-1905 may be taken as
an illustration of the cereal production of the United
States. The figures for wheat, oats and Indian corn
are presented in Tables XXXIII., XXXIV. and XXXV.
TABLE XXXIII.--Acreage, Production, Value, Price and Exports of
Wheat in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel, Farm Value,
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents. Dollars.
1890 36,087,154 11.1 399,262,000 83.8 334,773,678
1891 39,916,897 15.3 611,780,000 83.9 513,472,711
1892 38,554,430 13.4 515,949,000 62.4 322,111,881
1893 34,629,418 11.4 396,131,725 53.8 213,171,381
1894 34,882,436 13.2 460,267,416 49.1 225,902,025
1895 34,047,332 13.7 467,102,947 50.9 237,938,998
1896 34,618,646 12.4 427,684,346 72.6 310,602,539
1897 39,465,066 13.4 530,149,168 80.8 428,547,121
1898 44,055,278 15.3 675,148,705 58.2 392,770,320
1899 44,592,516 12.3 547,303,846 58.4 319,545,259
1900 42,495,385 12.3 522,229,505 61.9 323,515,177
1901 49,895,514 15.0 748,460,218 62.4 467,350,156
1902 46,202,424 14.5 670,063,008 63.0 422,224,117
1903 49,464,967 12.9 637,821,835 69.5 443,024,826
1904 44,074,875 12.5 552,399,517 92.4 510,489,874
1905 47,854,079 14.5 692,979,489 74.8 518,372,727
Domestic Exports,
including Flour,
Fiscal Years
Year. beginning 1st July.
Bushels.
1890 106,181,316
1891 225,665,812
1892 191,912,635
1893 164,283,129
1894 144,812,718
1895 126,443,968
1896 145,124,972
1897 217,306,005
1898 222,694,920
1899 186,096,762
1900 215,990,073
1901 234,772,516
1902 202,905,598
1903 120,727,613
1904 44,112,910
1905 ..
The acreage and production of wheat have steadily
increased. The acreage in Indian corn, the great American
crop, reached its highest in 1902, 94,043,613 acres, and its
production its highest figure in 1905, 2,707,993,540 bushels.
TABLE XXXIV.--Acreage, Production, Value, Prices, Exports and Imports
of Oats in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel, Farm Value
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents. Dollars.
1890 26,431,369 19.8 523,621,000 42.4 222,048,486
1891 25,581,861 28.9 738,394,000 31.5 232,312,267
1892 27,063,835 24.4 661,035,000 31.7 209,253,611
1893 27,273,033 23.4 638,854,850 29.4 187,576,092
1894 27,023,553 24.5 662,036,928 32.4 214,816,920
1895 27,878,406 29.6 824,443,537 19.9 163,655,068
1896 27,565,985 25.7 707,346,404 18.7 132,485,033
1897 25,730,375 27.2 698,767,809 21.2 147,974,719
1898 25,777,110 28.4 720,906,643 25.5 186,405,364
1899 26,341,380 30.2 796,177,713 24.9 198,167,975
1900 27,364,795 29.6 809,125,989 25.8 208,669,233
1901 28,541,476 25.8 736,808,724 39.9 293,658,777
1902 28,653,144 34.5 987,842,712 30.7 303,584,852
1903 27,638,126 28.4 784,094,199 34.1 267,661,665
1904 27,842,669 32.1 894,395,552 31.3 279,900,013
1905 28,046,746 34.0 953,216,197 29.1 277,047,537
Domestic Exports,
including Oatmeal, Imports during
Fiscal Years Fiscal Years
Year. beginning 1st July. beginning 1st July.
Bushels. Bushels.
1890 1,382,836 41,848
1891 10,586,644 47,782
1892 2,700,793 49,433
1893 6,290,229 31,759
1894 1,708,824 330,317
1895 15,156,618 66,602
1896 37,725,083 893,908
1897 73,880,307 25,093
1898 33,534,264 28,098
1899 45,048,857 54,576
1900 42,268,931 32,107
1901 13,277,612 38,978
1902 8,381,805 150,065
1903 1,960,740 183,983
1904 8,394,692 55,699
1905 .. ..
Producing as the United States does so much more
than its people can consume, its exports form a large
percentage of some of the crops, as Table XXXVI. shows.
Large portions of some of these crops, like Indian corn and
oats, are exported in the form of animals and animal products
(meats, lard, hides, &c.). The hay crop is almost entirely
used in this way, and the tendency is to convert more and
more of these crops into these higher-priced products. Still,
the time is far distant when domestic consumption will come
anywhere near overtaking domestic production, especially of
wheat and the other cereals. The certain extension of acreage
with the growth of demand and price, the increased use of
agricultural implements, and the improvement of methods will
be sure to keep up a large surplus for export for many years to
come. The Department of Agriculture has found that for
home use there were required per head 5.5 bushels of wheat,
28.6 bushels of Indian corn, and 10.7 bushels of oats, the
computations being made from the figures for population,
production and exports for 1888-1892; in 1905, 6.15 bushels
of wheat and wheat-flour, 28.59 bushels of Indian corn and
corn-meal. The following number of acres in these crops
was required, therefore, to supply the home demand for
1888-1892:--0.43 of an acre in wheat, 1.1.5 acre in corn, and
0.43 acre in oats per head of the population. Taking the year
TABLE XXXV.--Acreage, Production, Value, Prices and Exports of Indian
Corn in the United States in 1890-1905.
Average
Average Farm Price
Yield per per Bushel,
Year. Acreage. Acre. Production. 1st Dec.
Acres. Bushels. Bushels. Cents.
1890 71,970,763 20.7 1,489,970,000 50.6
1891 76,204,515 27.0 2,060,154,000 40.6
1892 70,626,658 23.1 1,628,464,000 39.4
1893 72,036,465 22.5 1,619,496,131 36.5
1894 62,582,269 19.4 1,212,770,052 45.7
1895 82,075,830 26.2 2,151,138,580 25.3
1896 81,027,156 28.2 2,283,875,165 21.5
1897 80,095,051 23.8 1,902,967,933 26.3
1898 77,721,781 24.8 1,924,184,660 28.7
1899 82,108,587 25.3 2,078,143,933 30.3
1900 83,320,872 25.3 2,105,102,516 35.7
1901 91,349,928 16.7 1,522,519,891 60.5
1902 94,043,613 26.8 2,523,648,312 40.3
1903 88,091,993 25.5 2,244,176,925 42.5
1904 92,231,581 26.8 2,467,480,934 44.1
1905 94,011,369 28.8 2,707,993,540 41.2
Domestic Exports,
including Corn-
Farm Value Meal, Fiscal Years
Year. 1st Dec. beginning 1st July.
Dollars. Bushels.
1890 754,433,451 32,041,529
1891 836,439,228 76,602,285
1892 642,146,630 47,121,894
1893 591,625,627 66,489,529
1894 554,719,162 28,585,405
1895 544,985,534 101,100,375
1896 491,006,967 178,817,417
1897 501,072,952 212,055,543
1898 552,023,428 117,255,046
1899 629,210,110 213,123,412
1900 751,220,324 181,405,473
1901 921,555,768 28,028,688
1902 1,017,017,349 76,639,261
1903 952,868,801 58,222,061
1904 1,087,461,440 90,293,483
1905 1,116,696,738 ..
1890 as an illustration, this gave a surplus area in wheat of 11,264,478
acres, of 2,648,404 acres in Indian corn, and of 238,162 acres in oats.
TABLE XXXVI.--Percentage of Crops Exported. Averages for Period
1878-1905.
Annual Average.
Crop. 1878-1882. 1888-1892. 1894-1896. 1896-1904. 1905.
Wheat 27.84 17.68 15.96 29.9 7.99
Indian Corn 4.82 3.49 5.39 6.4 3.66
Rye 10.30 .. 12.21 19.5 ..
Oats .37 .80 2.22 3.7 ..
Barley 1.55 .. 12.96 12.15 ..
Potatoes .37 .. .30 0.31 ..
Cotton 72.80 66.79 73.60 66.31 61.55
Tables XXXVII. and XXXVIII. give the number, total value and
average price of farm animals in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1906.
TABLE XXXVII.--Number and Value of Farm Animals in the United States,
1880-1906.
January 1 Horses. Mules.
Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 11,201,800 $613,296,611 1,729,500 $105,948,319
1890 14,213,837 978,516,562 2,331,027 182,394,099
1900 13,537,524 603,696,422 2,086,027 111,717,092
1906 18,718,578 1,510,889,906 3,404,061 334,680,520
Milch Cows. Other Cattle.
January 1 Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 12,027,000 $279,899,420 21,231,000 $341,761,154
1890 15,952,883 352,152,133 36,849,024 560,625,137
1900 16,292,360 514,812,106 27,610,054 689,486,260
1906 19,793,866 582,788,592 47,067,656 746,171,709
Sheep. Swine.
January 1 Number. Value. Number. Value.
1880 40,765,900 $90,230,537 34,034,100 $145,781,515
1890 44,336,072 100,659,761 51,602,780 243,418,336
1900 41,883,065 122,665,913 37,079,356 185,472,321
1906 50,631,619 179,056,144 52,102,847 321,802,571
Total Value of
January 1 Farm Animals.
1880 $1,576,917,556
1890 2,418,766,028
1900 2,228,123,134
1906 3,675,389,442
TABLE XXXVIII.--Average Value of Farm Animals in the
United States on 1st January, 1880-1906.
Milch Other
Year. Horses. Mules. Cows. Cattle. Sheep. Swine.
1880 $54.76 $61.26 $23.27 $16.10 $2.21 $4.28
1890 68.84 78.25 22.14 15.21 2.27 4.72
1900 44.61 53.56 31.60 24.97 2.93 5.00
1906 80.72 98.31 29.44 15.85 3.54 6.18
After the Civil War the number of horses increased and prices
declined. In 1893 the number of horses reached 16,206,802 (an
increase of over 5,005,002 or 44.6% over the number in 1880),
and in 1906, 18,718,578. The average farm price of horses
increased from $54.75 in 1880 to $74 in 1884, after which there
was a decrease to $31.51 in 1896, followed by rise to $80.72 in
1906. The extension of street-car lines, and the substitution
of cable and electric power for that of horses, the use of
bicycles and, later, of automobiles, and the improvement of
farm-machinery, in which horses are less and less used as
power-producers and steam is more common, have been factors
in decreasing the demand for these animals. The fluctuation
in prices of mules has been parallel to that for horses.
The returns for milch cows show an increase throughout
the period 1880-1899 in every year, with the exception of
1895-1899, after which there was a steady rise in numbers.
For the first ten years the numbers increase 32.6%, and from
1890 to 1899, 2%. The total value of milch cows increased each
year until 1884, then decreased until 1891, with a gradual
increase until the end of the period. The farm price of milch
cows rose from $23.27 in 1880 to $31.37 in 1884, then fell
to $21.40 in 1892, after which there was a steady increase
to $31.60 in 1899, and afterwards a slight fall, $29.44
being the average farm value on the 1st of January 1906.
No marked changes in the numbers of sheep have taken place.
During the period 1880-1890 there was an increase in numbers
amounting to about 8.8%. After 1893 there was a rather steady
decrease, with fluctuations amounting to a marked depression
after 1894. This industry is very susceptible to adverse
influences, and felt keenly a depression in the price of
wool. The increase began again in 1898, and in 1903 the
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
upon the cultivation of cereals and other plants adapted
to the latitude and climate of the state of Maryland.''
This was the first suggestion of an experiment station in
America, but resulted in little. The first experiment station
was established at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1875, partly
under state aid, partly through a gift from Orange Judd,
partly in connexion with the Sheffield Scientific School,
which from 1863 to 1892 was the College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts for the state of Connecticut, and partly under
control of Wesleyan University, which contributed the use
of its chemical laboratory; in 1877 it was removed to New
Haven. The state of Connecticut made in 1875 an appropriation
of $2800 (and in 1877 $5000 per annum) for this school--the
first state appropriation of the kind. The state of
North Carolina established, on the 12th of March 1877, an
agricultural experiment and fertilizer control station in
connexion with its state university. The Cornell University
experiment station was organized by that institution in
1879. The New Jersey station was organized in 1880 and the
station of the University of Tennessee in 1882. From these
beginnings the experiment stations multiplied until, when
Congress passed the National (or Hatch) Experiment Station
Act in 1887, there were seventeen already in existence. The
Hatch Experiment Station Act, so called from the fact that
its leading advocate was William Henry Hatch (1833-1896) of
Missouri, appropriated $15,000 a year to each agricultural
college for the purpose of conducting an agricultural experiment
station. The object of the stations was declared to be,
``to conduct original researches or verify experiments on the
physiology of plants and animals; the diseases to which they
are severally subject, with the remedies for the same; the
chemical composition of useful plants at their different stages
of growth; the comparative advantages of rotative cropping as
pursued under a varying series of crops; the capacity of new
plants or trees for acclimation; the analysis of soils and water;
the chemical composition of manures, natural or artificial,
with experiments designed to test their comparative effects on
crops of different kinds; the adaptation and value of grasses
and forage plants; the composition and digestibility of the
different kinds of food for domestic animals; the scientific
and economic questions involved in the production of butter
and cheese; and such other re-searches or experiments bearing
directly on the agricultural industry of the United States
as may in each case be deemed advisable, having due regard to
the varying conditions and needs of the respective states or
territories.'' The stations were authorized to publish annual
reports and also bulletins of progress for free distribution
to farmers. The franking privilege was given to these
publications. The office of experiment stations, in the
Department of Agriculture, was established in 1888 to be the
head office and clearing-house of these stations. Agricultural
experiment stations are now in operation in all the states and
territories, including Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico and the
Philippines. Alabama, Hawaii, Connecticut, New Jersey and
New York each maintain separate stations, supported wholly
or in part by state funds; Louisiana has a station for sugar,
and Missouri for fruit experiments. Excluding all branch
stations, the total number of experiment stations in the United
States is sixty, and of these fifty-five receive the national
appropriation. The total income of the stations during 1904 was
$1,508,820, of which $720,000 was received from the national
government and the remainder was derived from societies,
fees for analyses of fertilizers, sale of products, &c. The
stations employed 795 persons in the work of administration
and re-search; the chief classes being--directors, 71;
chemists, 163; agriculturists, 47; agronomists, 41; besides
numerous horticulturists, botanists, entomologists, physicists,
bacteriologists, dairymen, weather observers and irrigation
experts. The stations publish annual reports and bulletins,
besides a large number of ``press'' bulletins, which are
reproduced in the agricultural and county papers. They act
as bureaus of information on all farm questions, and carry
on an extensive correspondence covering all conceivable
questions. Their mailing lists aggregate half a million
names. In addition to the experiment stations there is in
nearly every state an officer or a special board whose duty is
to look after its agricultural interests. Eighteen states, one
territory, Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands have a single
official, usually called the Commissioner of Agriculture.
Twenty-six states, one territory and Hawaii, have Boards of
Agriculture. Information concerning the Agricultural Department
of the United States will be found under AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF.
See the articles on the various sorts of crops; also CATTLE,
HORSE, PIG, SHEEP, &c.; DAIRY AND DAIRY-FARMING,
HORTICULTURE, FRUIT AND FLOWER-FARMING, POULTRY AND
POULTRY FARMING; SOIL, GRASS AND GRASSLAND, MANURE,
DRAINAGE OF LAND, IRRIGATION, SOWING, REAPING,
HAY AND HAY MAKING, PLOUGH, HARROW, THRESHING.
LITERATURE.---Besides the contemporary works cited in the
text, see the article ``Agricultural'' in Smith's Dictionary
of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), and the article
``Agriculture'' in J. A. Parral's Dictionnaire d'Agriculture
(1885-1892); R. E. Prothero, Pioneers and Progress of English
Farming (1888); sections on agriculture by W.J. Corbett,
R. E. Prothero and W. E. Bear in Traill's Social England
(1901-1904); J. E. T. Rogers, History of Agriculture and
Prices in England from 1259 to 1793 (7 vols., 1866-1902);
W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce
During The Early and Middle Ages (2 vols., 1905 and
1907); D. M`Donald, Agricultural Writers from Sir Walter of
Henley to Arthur Young, 1200-1800 (London, 1908); H. Rider
Haggard, Rural England, 2 vols. (1902); Encyclopedia of
Agriculture, ed. by C. E. Green and D. Young (Edinburgh,
1907-1908); Cyclopaedia of American Agriculture, ed.
by L. H. Bailey (New Yorkand London, 1907-1908); W. S.
Harwood, The New Earth (New York, 1906); T. B. Collins,
The New Agriculture (New York, 1906); Journals of the
Royal Agricultural Society of England and other agricultural
societies. Amongst general works on practical agriculture the
following may be mentioned:--Stephens's Book of the Farm, 5
vols., revised by J. Macdonald (Edinburgh, 1908).; William
Fream, Elements of Agriculture (London, 1905); Rural Science
Series, ed. by L. H. Bailey (New York and London, 1895,
&c.); Morton's Handbooks of the Farm (London); R. Wallace,
Farm Livestock of Great Britain (Edinburgh, 1907); Youatt's
Complete Grazier, rewritten by W. Fream (London, 1900); E.
V. Wilcox, Farm Animals (New York, 1907). (W. Fr.; R. Tr.)
1 Translation by Clement-Mullet (Paris, 1864).
2 Walter of Henley mentions six bushels per acre as a satisfactory crop.
3 This process of enclosure must be distinguished from that of enclosing
the arable common fields which, though advocated by Fitzherbert in
a passage quoted below, proceeded slowly until the 18th century.
4 During the 16th century wheat had risen in price,
and between 1606 and 1618 never fell below 30s. a
quarter. At the same time wages remained low.
5 Chalmers' Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 732.
6 The higher yield of wheat in the later years of the 19th
century appears to be largely attributable to better grain-growing
seasons. The yields in the experimental wheat-field at
Rothamsted--where there is no change either of land or of
treatment--indicate this. The following figures show the
average yields per acre of the selected plots at Rothamsted
over six 8-yearly periods from 1852 to 1899, and afford evidence
that the higher yield of later years is due to the seasons:--
Bushels (of 60lb)
Averages of--- per acre.
8 years 1852-1859 . . . . . . . . 28 3/8
8 years 1860-1867 . . . . . . . . 28 7/8
8 years 1868-1875 . . . . . . . . 27 1/8
8 years 1876-1883 . . . . . . . . 25 1/4
8 years 1884-1891 . . . . . . . . 29 7/8
8 years 1892-1899 . . . . . . . . 30
------------------ --------
32 years 1852-1883 . . . . . . . . 27 3/8
16 years 1884-1899 . . . . . . . . 30
------------------ --------
48 years 1852-1899 . . . . . . . . 28 1/4
The average of the first thirty-two years was thus
27 3/8 bushels per acre, of the last sixteen years 30
bushels, and of the whole forty-eight years 28 1/4 bushels.
7 See J.B. Lawes and J.H. Gilbert, Rothamsted Memoirs on
Agricultural Chemistry and Physiology, 7 vols. (1893-1899);
A. D. Hall, Books of the Rothamsted Experiments (1905).
8 including Channel islands and Isle of Man.
9 In 1903 two of the principal sources of supply of mutton shipped
in excess of their exportable surplus, for which they suffered
severely in 1904--hence the somewhat irregular movements after 1903.
10 Returns for only ten months were available for this year.
11 In the absence of experiments it is assumed that
wheat is digested like other foods of the same class.
12 This sum was furnished out of a total of L. 693,851, forming
the residue grant allocated for the purposes of education
to the various county councils of England and Wales
under the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act 1890.
13 ``Unimproved'' land includes land which has never
been ploughed, mown or cropped and also land once
cultivated but now overgrown with trees or shrubs.
14Includes farms operated by owners, part-owners and tenants, and managers.
15Tenants of farms rented for a share of the products.
16 The demand for horses for the British
troops in South Africa affected these years.
17 Decrease due to a severe frost in the winter of
1898-1899, which destroyed the peach crop in most of the states
AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF. The Board of Agriculture andFisheries,
in England, owes its foundation to the establishment of a
veterinary department of the privy council in 1865, when the
Country was ravaged by cattle plague. An order in council
abolished the name ``veterinary department'' in 1883 and
substituted that of ``agricultural department,'' but no
alteration was effected in the work of the department, so far
as it related to animals. In 1889 the Board of Agriculture
(for Great Britain) was formed under an act of parliament
of that year, and the immediate control of the agricultural
department was transferred from the clerk of the privy council
to the secretary of the Board of Agriculture, where it remains.
A minister of agriculture had for years been asked for in the
interests of the agricultural community, and the functions
of this Office are discharged by the president of the
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, whose appointment is a
political one, and may or may not carry with it a seat in the
cabinet. The board consists of the lord president of the
council, the five principal secretaries of state, the first
lord of the treasury, the chancellor of the exchequer, the
chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and the secretary for
Scotland. The establishment consists of a president, secretary,
assistant secretaries, &c. The salary of the president is
L. 2000 a year, and that of the secretary L. 1500 a year.
The Board of Agriculture on its establishment took over from the
privy council the responsibilities of the Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Acts, besides the comprehensive duties of the Land
Commission. The board, through its intelligence division,
collects and prepares statistics relating to agriculture and
forestry, and in 1904 appointed a number of honorary agricultural
correspondents throughout the country for the purpose of bringing
to the notice of the board any special circumstances affecting
the practice of agriculture, horticulture and forestry, or
the transport of farm, garden and forrest produce in their
districts. The land division of the board prepares the annual
agricultural and produce returns, and the three divisions, the
animals, intelligence and land, take proceedings under the
following acts:--the Diseases of Animals Acts, the Markets
and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Acts, the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts 1875 to 1800, the Merchandise Marks Acts 1887 to
1905, the Fertilizers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1893, the Tithe
Acts 1836 to 1891, the Copyhold Act 1894, the Inclosure Acts
1845 to 1899, the Agricultural Holdings Acts 1883 to 1900,
the Drainage and Improvement of Land Acts, the Universities
and College Estates Acts 1858 to 1898, the Glebe Lands Act
1888, &c. The board also has charge of the inspection of
schools (not being public elementary schools) in which
technical instruction is given in agriculture or forestry,
and institutes such experimental investigations as may be
deemed conducive to the progress of agriculture and forestry.
The Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom is under the
control of the board, as well as the arrangements for the
advertisement and sale of the publications of the Geological
Survey. In 1903 the powers and duties formerly vested in the
commissioners of the Office of Works, relating to the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, were transferred to the board. The
various departments of the board are (1) chief clerk's branch
and indoor branch of animals division; (2) outdoor branch of
the animals division; (3) veterinary department; (4) fisheries
branch; (5) intelligence department; (6) educational branch;
(7) accounts branch; (8) inclosure and common branch; (9)
copyhold and tithe branch; (10) statistical branch; (11) law
branch; (12) survey, land improvement and land drainage branch.
In 1903, in pursuance of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries