In 1900 there were 5,740,000 farms in the United States, which were, according to the rule just stated, classified as follows:
FARMS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PRINCIPAL
SOURCE OF INCOME
| Gross | ||||
| Average | income | |||
| Total area, | size | per | ||
| Kind of farm. | acres. | Number. | acres. | farm. |
| Hay and grain | 210,243,000 | 1,320,000 | 159 | $760 |
| Vegetables | 10,157,000 | 156,000 | 65 | 665 |
| Fruits | 6,150,000 | 82,000 | 75 | 915 |
| Live stock | 335,009,000 | 1,565,000 | 227 | 788 |
| Dairy produce | 43,284,000 | 358,000 | 120 | 787 |
| Tobacco | 9,574,000 | 106,000 | 90 | 615 |
| Cotton | 89,587,000 | 1,072,000 | 84 | 430 |
| Rice | 1,088,000 | 6,000 | 190 | 1,335 |
| Sugar | 2,689,000 | 7,000 | 363 | 5,317 |
| Flowers and plan | ts 43,000 | 6,000 | 7 | 2,991 |
| Nursery products | 166,000 | 2,000 | 82 | 4,971 |
| Miscellaneous | 113,144,000 | 1,059,000 | 107 | 440 |
| ----------- | --------- | --- | ----- | |
| Total | 844,000,000 | 5,740,000 | 147 | $656 |
Including miscellaneous or general farms, there are just a dozen kinds of farms mentioned. Of this number, nine kinds obtained at least 40% of their products, and probably much more, from vegetable rather than from animal forms. However, live stock and dairy farms constitute about one-third of the total number of farms, and almost one-half the farm acreage. There are four kinds of farms on which the production of grain and hay forms an important part of their activities; namely, the hay and grain farm, the live stock farm, the dairy farm, and general farm. These constitute, in the aggregate, 75% of the farms of the United States, and by virtue of their larger area, they occupy 85% of the total farm area.
GRAIN AND HAY STATISTICS
At the close of the nineteenth century less than one-half the area of the United States was owned in farms. Only one-half of this farm area was considered to be under cultivation. The total area in cereals was one-tenth the total land area, while 3% was devoted to hay and 2% to all other crops except pasture.
Without going into details, it may be stated with reasonable assurance that: (1) During the last half of the last century, the production of cereals has increased much faster than the population. For example, in 1850, there were raised in the United States one ton of cereal grains per capita; by 1900 this amount had increased to one and one-half tons for each inhabitant.
(2) Since the number of persons engaged in agriculture has decreased in proportion to population, the quantity of cereals produced in proportion to persons engaged in agriculture has increased in still greater ratio. So far, therefore, as the amount of cereals is concerned, the farmer has been getting an increasingly larger return for his labor.