UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



In the North Atlantic colonies, when first 

 established, no crops could be found for which 

 there was a demand in Europe. The settlers 

 were therefore compelled to raise crops chiefly 

 for their own use and to rely upon fish and for- 

 est products for exports This kind of agricul- 

 ture led to a system of small farms worked by 

 their owners, which in turn produced a demo- 

 cratic type of society. In Virginia and the 

 more southern colonies, on the other hand, tho 

 soil and climate favored the growth of staple 

 crops, especially tobacco and cotton, for which 

 there was a good market abroad. The settlers 

 therefore adopted a commercial type of agricul- 

 ture, aiming to produce such crops for the mar- 

 ket. In order to do this they began the impor- 

 tation of contract labor and finally of African 

 slaves (see SLAVERY). This sort of farming gave 

 rise to an aristocratic system based on large 

 plantations which continued down through the 

 War of Secession, and in a measure survives 

 even to the present time. 



When settlers first reached the upper Missis- 

 sippi Valley, those broad and fertile acres of- 

 fered great incentive for grain growing, and thus 

 stimulated the invention of agricultural machin- 

 ery. The use of such machinery was especially 

 stimulated by the War of Secession, which with- 

 drew so many of the able-bodied men from the 

 fields. As a result, the north-central section of 

 the United States went into grain growing al- 

 most exclusively, exporting the produce, not 

 only to the Eastern states and to the South, but 

 also to Europe. Continuous grain growing on 

 the same land, however, especially continuous 

 wheat growing, exhausted the fertility of the 

 soil so that the older states in this section have 

 gradually changed to the system of mixed 

 farming, growing a variety of crops and keep- 

 ing dairy cattle. Only in the newer states is the 

 system of exclusive grain growing still practical. 

 See ROTATION OP CROPS. 



North Atlantic Section. At the present time 

 agriculture in the states along the North At- 

 lantic is mostly specialized. Owing to the pres- 

 ence of many large cities there is a great de- 

 mand for milk, as well as butter and cheese. 

 Dairying is, therefore, on the whole, the leading 

 farm industry, and hay is the leading crop. 

 Potatoes are extensively grown in parts of 

 Maine and of New York, since they are suited 

 to a moist climate and do well on rather poor 

 In tlir 1. M 'Itllc states, 



re farm machinery can be used to advan- 

 tage, wheat is an important crop, while rye 

 and oats are grown, even on poor land. Spe- 



cial crops requiring more labor to the acre are 

 vegetables and sugar beets, which are grown in 

 Western New York; fruit* along the Great 

 Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay, and tobacco 

 along the eastern slope of the Appalachian 

 Mountains, as well as in the Connecticut Val- 

 ley and in Wisconsin. New York now holds 

 first place in the value of its fruit crop. Near 

 the great cities vegetables are produced for the 

 markets, to some extent in greenhouses with ar- 

 tificial heat. This is possible even in corapeti- 

 tion.with the South, because the freight rates on 

 perishable products are very high, if shipped 

 from a distance. 



The South. In the Southern states, both 

 along the Atlantic and the Gulf, two staple 

 crops are prominent. Ir Kentucky, Virginia and 

 the states immediately to the south the lead- 

 ing crop grown for market is tobacco. This is 

 very adaptable as to soil and climate, but each 

 district seems to produce -a different quality. 

 In North Carolina, for example, a light-yellow 

 tobacco owes its peculiar character to a thin, 

 sandy soil long considered nearly worthless. 

 The United States grows and exports more to- 

 bacco than any other country in the world. 



South of Virginia and Kentucky tobacco 

 shares the honors with cotton; while south of 

 Tennessee cotton is still king, as before the War 

 of Secession, exceeding in value every other 

 Southern crop. For successful cotton growing a 

 long summer with abundant moisture is neces- 

 sary, and for the production of the longest fibre 

 nearness to the sea appears to be advantageous. 



The United States is by far the largest pro- 

 ducer of raw cotton and of cotton-seed prod- 

 ucts. The principal obstacle to an even greater 

 development of cotton growing is the necessity 

 of picking the fiber from the plant by hand. On 

 this account various attempts have been made 

 to invent a cotton-picking machine. Some of 

 these machines, yet in the experimental stage, 

 operate by suction and are run by gasoline It 

 a really successful cotton-picking machine could 

 be invented, it would work a profound revolu- 

 tion in the cotton industry. For one thing, it 

 would tend to displace the negroes from th< 

 land and drive them to the cities, since 

 are now kept upon the farms chiefly in order 

 to have sufficient help during the cotton-pick- 

 !ir- MOO 



On the low. hot coast lands, rice and sugar 



cane arc iho prevailing crops. Rice was for 



many years the leading crop along the coast of 



South Carolina, but floods caused by cutting 



v the forests on the mountains have in re- 



