FACTORS OF PRODUCTION 



larger. Ninety-five and eight-tenths per cent, of 

 the total area of that state is farm land, and of 

 that in farms eighty-six and one-half per cent, is 

 improved, so that eighty-three per cent, of the 

 total area of the state is improved farm land. In 

 Wisconsin the situation is quite different. Only 

 fifty-five and five-tenths per cent, of the total area 

 is there included in farms, and only fifty-six and 

 six-tenths per cent, of that is improved, so that 

 only thirty-one and four-tenths per cent, of the 

 total area of the state is improved farm land. 

 It is well known that this low percentage of im- 

 proved land in Wisconsin is due to the vast areas 

 of unoccupied land in the northern part of the 

 state. The figures for New Mexico will help one 

 to understand why the percentage of improved 

 land for the United States as a whole is so low in 

 spite of the fact that some states surpass the 

 densely populated European countries in the per- 

 centage of their improved land. In 1900, only 

 five and nine-tenths per cent, of the total area of 

 New Mexico was in farms, and only six and four- 

 tenths per cent, of that was improved. Thus the 

 improved area was only thirty-eight-hundredths 

 of one per cent, of the total area. 



Of the territorial divisions of the United States, 

 the North Central States form by far the most 

 important agricultural region. While these 

 states contain only about one-fourth of the total 

 area, they contain more than one-half of the im- 



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