498 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Mississippi. In short, the great farm land value increases occurred in 

 that section of the country from which most of the necessary farm 

 products are derived. An examination of the figures in the preceding 

 paragraph shows that of the 22 states outside of this area, none reports 

 increases of more than two hundred per cent., while only eight show in- 

 creases of more than one hundred per cent. Within the area (west of 

 Pennsylvania, north of the Mason and Dixon Line and west of the Mis- 

 sissippi), of the 27 states, seven report increases of more than two hun- 

 dred per cent., while 19 of the 27 report gains of more than 100 per cent. 



There is, to be sure, a partial explanation of these immense western 

 increases in the increase in acreage. The number of acres devoted 

 to farming purposes is greater in 1910 than in 1900. This increase 

 is not, however, considerable. Although the population west of the 

 Mississippi increased 30 per cent, between 1900 and 1910, the total 

 number of farms increased only 18 per cent., the total acreage in farms 

 increased only 9 per cent., and the total amount of improved land in 

 farms increased only 29 per cent. If the reader will bear in mind the 

 fact that the northeastern section of the United States is increasingly 

 dependent upon the West for its food supply, the increase in the amount 

 of farm land west of the Mississippi is less than might have been 

 expected. 



An appeal to the census table showing the value of farm land per 

 acre bears out the suggestion that the increase in western farm land 

 values can not be attributed to increased acreage. The percentage of in- 

 crease in the value per acre of all farm land between 1900 and 1910 was 

 108 per cent. In the New England, Middle Atlantic, East North Central 

 and East South Central States, this increase in value per acre was less 

 than one hundred per cent. For the other groups of states, namely, for 

 those lying west of the Mississippi, the increases ranged from 1-46 per 

 cent, for the Pacific States to 222 per cent, for the Mountain States. An 

 examination of the figures for individual states shows that among the 

 14 New England, Middle Atlantic and East North Central States 

 (lying east of the Mississippi and north of the Mason and Dixon Line), 

 only one state (Illinois, 105 per cent.) shows an increase of over one 

 hundred per cent. Among the 22 West North Central, West South 

 Central, Mountain, and Pacific States, only two states, Minnesota (73 

 per cent.) and Louisiana (85 per cent.), show increases of loss than one 

 hundred per cent, in farm values per acre; while nine states show in- 

 creases in the value per acre of between two hundred and three hundred 

 per cent., and one state (Arizona) shows an increase of 476 per cent. 

 Among the eastern states the increases in farm land value per acre are 

 therefore comparatively small — less than one hundred per cent, in all 

 but two instances. Among the states west of the Mississippi, on the 

 other hand, the increase in value per acre has been immense — more than 



