VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 41 



STATISTICAL INFORMATION. 



In the year 1870 the number of farms in the United 

 States was 2,660,000; in 1890 it was 4,560,000 and they num- 

 ber to-day about 5,000,000, with a total acreage of about 

 700,000,000, an increase of 400,000,000 acres since 1850. The 

 improved acreage has increased from 113,000,000, in 1850 to 

 358,000,000 in 1890. From 1850 the average size of farms de- 

 creased from 203 acres to 137 acres. Medium-sized farms grew 

 in number from 1880 to 1890 at the expense of the smaller and 

 larger farms, which seems to indicate that medium-sized 

 farms operated by the proprietor and his family with improv- 

 ed farm machinery are the most profitable. 



TENANT FARMING. 



Farm tenancy has increased in the last two decades. Many 

 reasons are assigned for this. There has been an increase in 

 the urban population from 3 per cent, in 1790 to 12^2 per 

 cent, in 1850, to 21 per cent, in 1870 and over 29 per cent in 

 1890. Perhaps it is now 35 per cent, of the entire popula- 

 tion, and it is probable that in the drift of farming population 

 to town and city, farm owners have been unable to find pur- 

 chasers and have leased their farms. It is suggested also 

 that the allurements of town life and industrial occupations 

 have taken farmers' sons away from the farm so that when 

 the owners have died or given up farming many farms have 

 naturally passed into the possession of tenants. Thousands 

 of emigrants come here annually hungry for land to till. They 

 are usually without money and are unfortunately satisfied to 

 become tenants. Whatever explanation may be made, it is to be 

 borne in mind that the increase of farm tenancy represents an 

 upward movement in the condition and prospects of a large 

 element of our population, which is thus able to acquire farm 

 proprietorship instead of being mere farm laborers. 



The real estate value of farms has increased more than 

 ten billion dollars while the value of farm products and live 

 stock has increased more than five billion dollars. In 1893 

 there were 16,000,000 horses on the farms of this country, 

 an increase of almost 11,000.000 since 1850. Since 1893 there 

 has been a decrease because of the almost complete extinction 

 of the demand for horses for street car service and the in- 

 creased application of steam and other power to the transpor- 

 tation of freight. Mules have also increased in number, but 

 for the same reasons as that regarding horses, they have de- 

 creased within recent years. 



The growth of dairy interests is shown by the fact that 

 in 1850 there were 6,000,000 milch cows on the farms and 

 16,000,000 in 1899, their value increasing from $280,000,000 to 



