I ARM MACHIN1 KY 



The Effect of t/ie Use of Machinery upon tlic St inns and 



the Resulting Relationship between tJie Dependent and the Inde- 

 pendent Earniing Classes 



The average size of farms of the continental United States and 

 in the several divisions, as shown by the successive census returns 

 from 1850 to the present, given in acres, is as follows : l 



An inspection of the foregoing table shows that for the period 

 from 1850 to 1880, for the whole United States and for each 

 division, except the South Central, in 1860, there was a constant 

 tendency toward smaller farms. In the North Atlantic and South 

 Central divisions this tendency is shown to have been still in oper- 

 ation in 1890, and the average size of farms in the North Atlantic 

 division in 1900, although greater than in ; is still a trifle 



below the average shown for 1880. In the South Atlantic d 

 the tendency toward smaller farms has continued unbroken to the 

 nt time; but otherwise, for the several divisions and for the 

 I'nited States as a whole, the year 1880 marks the point of 

 the smallest average-si/ed farms. The returns subsequent to that 

 date, except in the cases noted, show a marked increase in the 

 :/,e of farms. 



The total area in farms may, however, be somewhat misleading 

 when considri > index of the extent of farming opcrat ions 



subject to the influence of machinery, as will dearly appear upon 

 in- data in the tahlc last above given with those 

 of the following table showing th < number of acres of 



improved land, per farm, 1850-1900, iiu lusi\ 





 /., p. xxii. 



