152 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



cent. Many counties report a very considerable appreciation from va^ 

 rioup causes. The increase in tobacco culture, the abundance and high 

 price of the last cotton crop, manufacturing and mining enterprises, &c., 

 are mentioned as among the causes of this improvement. 



The Gulf States estimate a rise of 8 per cent. The Florida figures, 

 28 per cent., are believed to be excessive, but the small area of farm- 

 land compared with other States in this section, renders this excess of 

 little importance in the general estimate. On the other hand, the esti- 

 mate of Texas, 4.8 per cent., is evidently too low. In Florida vast areas 

 of timber land are just coming into market, and the special value of the 

 land depends not upon its adaptability for agriculture as for the tim- 

 ber to be cut off it. In all these States are large amounts of public 

 lands available for settlement and purchase from the government. In 

 the western counties the exodus of African laborers has caused some 

 reaction and caused some lands to be thrown upon the market. The 

 yellow fever also had its reactive influence. In several counties a rapid 

 denudation of timber lands is noted. 



The Southern inland States claim an improvement of 9 per cent. In 

 Arkansas the rapid increase of population and settlement will account 

 for this improvement. In Tennessee and West Virginia there has been 

 a considerable increase in the mining population and in mining enter- 

 prise. The removal of colored laborers to Kansas has caused an influx 

 of white labor. In these and in other Southern States it is noted that 

 the freedmen are becoming land-owners to an extent hitherto unex- 

 pected. 



Korth of the Ohio the enhancement in the value of lands was about 

 9 per cent. An increased demand for real estate has sprung up under 

 the operation of several causes. Mineral and manufacturing enterprise 

 are advancing in different parts of this region, tlie latter at giant strides; 

 but the advance in prices of farm lands in this region is evidently due 

 to the immense crops of 1879. Several correspondents complain that 

 timber land is becoming scarce, yet in all these States cleared land 

 bears a higher average price. 



West of the Mississippi River farm lands increased 10 per cent, in 

 value. In the prairie States — Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska — timber land 

 bears a higher price than cleared land, and in these States a very con- 

 siderable effort has been made to plant lands in timber. The rapid in- 

 crease in population, together with the extension of manufacturing en- 

 terprise in these States, will account for the increase in farm values. 



The Pacific States show but 3 per cent, increase. The effect of the 

 late labor agitation in California is seen in this fact. This agitation, 

 however, has measurably quieted down. Several of our correspondents 

 reflect at some length the aspects of local opinion and feeling on the 

 Chinese labor question. The peculiar character of this labor tends to 

 create a disturbance in the general labor market. How it is to be ad- 

 justed does not appear from any facts yet developed. Late events on 

 the Pacific coast show a tendency in this class of laborers to diffuse 

 themselves over the whole country and not to locate in that section ex- 

 clusively. In many respects this is desirable. The disturbing influence 

 of this cheap labor will be felt far less if diffused over the whole country. 



The above exhibits some of the leading laws and causes regulating 

 the problem of inter-State migration and settlement in our country, as 

 developed by our late investigations. We have presented already such 

 generalizations as the present state of the inquiry will bear. It is a 

 question which demands a continued annual investigation, and from 

 which good results may be anticipated. 



