2184 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



which is universally followed in the state, however, is 

 that adopted in 1903 by the Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society. According to this standard, apples are graded 

 as No. 1's, No. 2's, and culls. 



The horticultural interests of Illinois have been well 

 looked after and carefully placed on a permanent basis 

 by the legislature. In 1874 an act was passed by that 

 body establishing the Illinois State Horticultural 

 Society (which was organized in 1855) as a public cor- 

 poration of the state. The State Horticultural Society 

 is divided into three subdivisions, the Northern, Cen- 

 tral, and Southern Horticultural Societies, each taking 

 in about one-third of the state (see map). For the ad- 

 vancement of floriculture, the Illinois State Florists' 

 Association was incorporated under the laws of the 

 state of Illinois, March 9, 1905. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census). 



The approximate land area of Illinois, according to 

 the Census Report of 1910, is 35,867,520 acres. Of this, 

 90.7 per cent or 32,522,937 acres are in farms; 28,048,- 

 323 acres of the farm land are improved; 3,147,879 

 acres are in woodland; and there are 1,326,735 acres of 

 other unimproved land in farms. The number of farms 

 in the state totals 251,872. The average acreage to the 

 farm is 129.1 acres. [The total area of the state is 

 56,665 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops are cereals and hay and 

 forage. In 1909, 59 per cent of the improved land was 

 occupied by the cereals, or 16,536,457 acres. The value 

 of the products from the cereals was $297,523,098, 

 which was 79.9 per cent of the total value of all the 

 crops. Hay and forage occupied 11.9 per cent of the 

 improved land, or 3,349,435 acres. The value of the 

 products was $40,560,220, which was 10.9 per cent of 

 the total value of all crops. Crops of lesser importance 

 were broom-corn, which occupied 38,452 acres in 1909, 

 the products of which were valued at $1,457,172; and 

 the sugar crops, which occupied 16,220 acres, whose 

 products were valued at $573,846. The value of the 

 forest products of the farms was $3,325,259 in 1909 and 

 $2,555,890 in 1899. 



Horticultural crops grown are fruits and nuts, vege- 

 tables including potatoes, small-fruits, and flowers and 

 plants and nursery products. The value of fruits and 

 nuts grown in 1909 was $4,304,847, as compared with 

 $4,168,500 in 1899. The total acreage of potatoes and 

 other vegetables in 1909 was 268,911, and their value 

 $16,300,654, which is far above the value of any of the 

 other horticultural crops. The acreage of small-fruits 

 was 11,723 in 1909, as compared with 16,794 in 1899, 

 a decrease of 30.2 per cent. The value of the small- 

 fruits in 1909 was $1,109,747. The raising of flowers 

 and plants and nursery products is of comparative 

 importance, 4,793 acres being devoted to them in 1909 

 and the product being valued at $4,517,085. 



The total quantity of orchard-fruits produced in 1909 

 was 4,939,211 bushels, valued at $3,857,743. Apples 

 produced three-fifths of this quantity, the production 

 in 1909 being 3,093,321 bushels, valued at $2,111,866. 

 Peaches and nectarines were next in importance of the 

 orchard-fruits, the production being 1,222,570 bushels, 

 valued at $999,516. In 1909 the production of cherries 

 was 287,376 bushels, valued at $453,474; that of pears, 

 249,365 bushels, valued at $202,965; that of plums and 

 prunes, 78,566 bushels, valued at $80,384; that of 

 quinces, 6,723 bushels, valued at $8,037; and that of 

 apricots, 1,250 bushels, valued at $1,457. 



Grapes produced in 1909 amounted to 16,582,785 

 pounds, valued at $426,468. The production in 1899 

 was 20,009,400 pounds. 



The total production of all the nuts in 1909 was 714,- 

 478 pounds, valued at $20,550. The most important 

 of the nuts were the pecans, producing 107,069 pounds, 

 valued at $10,301 ; the black walnuts, producing 530,730 

 pounds, valued at $7,411; and hickory-nuts, producing 



60,124 pounds, valued at $1,954. The nuts of lesser 

 importance were the Persian or English walnuts, the 

 chestnuts, and the butternuts. 



Of the small-fruits, strawberries are the most im- 

 portant, with blackberries and dewberries, and rasp- 

 berries and loganberries ranking second and third, 

 respectively. The acreage of strawberries in Illinois in 

 1909 was 5,410, producing 8,031,824 quarts of berries, 

 valued at $613,917; the acreage of blackberries and 

 dewberries was 3,503, producing 2,915,473 quarts of 

 berries, valued at $237,058; and the acreage of rasp- 

 berries and loganberries was 1,945, producing 1,834,337 

 quarts of berries, valued at $191,401. The small-fruits 

 of less importance that were produced in 1909 were: 

 541,498 quarts of gooseberries, valued at $44,238; 

 265,858 quarts of currants, valued at $21,863; and 

 13,418 quarts of cranberries, valued at $1,248. 



Of the vegetables produced in Illinois, potatoes are 

 by far the most important. The acreage in 1909 was 

 138,052, and the production 12,166,901 bushels, valued 

 at $6,401,598. The acreage devoted to sweet potatoes 

 and yams was 10,568, the production being 1,050,932 

 bushels, valued at $506,760. The acreage devoted to 

 the production of all other vegetables, excluding the 

 potato, sweet potato and yam, was, in 1909, 120,291 

 and the production was valued at $9,392,296. The lead- 

 ing vegetables, their acreage, and the value of the prod- 

 uct were as follows: sweet corn, 19,976 acres, valued at 

 $558,746; onions, 3,315 acres, valued at $546,951; toma- 

 toes, 5,316 acres, valued at $343,132; cabbage, 5,207 

 acres, valued at $341,161; cucumbers, 2,981 acres, 

 valued at $234,203; watermelons, 6,211 acres, valued at 

 $188,869; asparagus, 2,241 acres, valued at $181,557; 

 231 acres of lettuce, valued at $153,784. Other vege- 

 tables of less importance in 1909 were green beans, beets, 

 cantaloupes and muskmelons, carrots, cauliflower, cel- 

 ery, pop-corn, horse-radish, parsnips, green peas, green 

 peppers, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, and turnips. 



The acreage devoted to the growing of flowers and 

 plants has increased from 679 in 1899 to 1,339 in 1909, 

 an increase of 97.2 per cent. The total area covered by 

 glass in 1909 was 15,950,853 square feet, of which 

 14,380,927 were covered by greenhouses, and 1,569,926 

 by sashes and frames. The value of the flowers and 

 plants produced in 1909 was $3,694,801, as compared 

 with $1,894,960 in 1899. 



The acreage occupied by farms and establishments 

 growing nursery products in 1909 was 3,454, as com- 

 pared with 3,142 in 1899. The value of the products 

 in 1909 was $822,284, an average value an acre of 

 $238.07. j. C . BLAIR. 



Michigan. 



No state in the Union has greater natural advantages 

 than Michigan (Fig. 2499) and few if any have made 

 more use of them along horticultural lines. Not only 

 are the soil and climate unusually well adapted for 

 the growing of flowers, vegetables and nearly all the 

 deciduous fruits, but excellent shipping facilities are 

 provided. 



Almost any kind of soil may be found in every 

 county in the state and often upon the same farm. The 

 sandy-loam soils which are so desirable for peaches, 

 cherries and grapes, are widely distributed, as are some- 

 what heavier soils for apples, plums, pears and the 

 small-fruits. Even when the soil upon the surface 

 appears so light as to be worthless, a clay subsoil is 

 often found upon which trees of all kinds will grow 

 luxuriantly. Along the shores of Lake Michigan is 

 some of the best fruit-land where the soil is of a sandy 

 nature and absolutely devoid of clay. From this the 

 soil varies through the sandy loams to light and heavy 

 clay loams, to clay soils which when overlying an open 

 subsoil answer well for growing pears, apples and even 

 for the other fruits like peaches, for which it is generally 

 understood that a sandy loam soil is better adapted. 



