Nc. 6. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

 Number and Size of Farm. 



1007 



The folk)win;j;" table gives, by decades since ISoO, tlie number of 

 farms, the total and average acreage, and the per cent, of farm land 

 improved: 



TABLE 1.— Farm» and Farm Average: 1850 to lUUO. 



The total number of farms reported for 1900 shows an increase of 

 75.8 per cent, since 1850, and an increase of 6.0 per cent, in the last 

 decade. This increase was more rapid than the increase in total 

 acreage, involving a gradual decrease in the average size of farms. 



The total acreage has increased slowly, the gain being but 29.8 

 p«'r cent, since 1850, and 5.5 per cent, since 1890. The area of im- 

 proved farm land increased at a more rapid rate than the total acre- 

 age until 1890, but the use of a more strict construction of the term 

 '•improved land" by the Twelfth Census resulted in a slight decrease 

 for the last decade in the per cent, of farm land improved. 



Farm Property and Products. 



Table 2 presents a summary of the principal statistics relating 

 to fftrm products for each census j^ear, beginning with 1850. 



