NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2193 



The leading agricultural crops are cereals, hay and 

 forage, and forest products of the farms. In 1909, 51.6 

 per cent of the improved land, or 10,139,850 acres were 

 occupied by cereals and the valuation of the production 

 was $140,864,148, which was 72.8 per cent of the total 

 value of all the crops. The acreage of hay and forage 

 increased from 3,157,690 in 1899 to 3,946,072 in 1909, 

 an increase of 25 per cent, when the production was 

 valued at $26,724,801, or 13.8 per cent of the total value 

 of all crops. The value of the forest products of the 

 farms in 1909 was $5,181,508, as compared with $2,602,- 

 335 in 1899. In 1909 flaxseed was produced to the 

 amount of 3,277,238 bushels, valued at $4,863,328. 



The horticultural crops produced were fruits and 

 nuts, small-fruits, vegetables including potatoes, 

 flowers and plants and nursery products. The value of 

 the fruits and nuts produced in 1909 was $813,971, as 

 compared with $125,240 in 1899. Small-fruits increased 

 in acreage from 3,092 in 1899 to 3,738 in 1909, when the 

 production was 4,476,575 quarts, valued at $493,406. 

 In 1909 the total acreage of potatoes and other vege- 

 tables was 269,713 and their value $11,044,391. Ex- 

 cluding potatoes, the acreage of the other vegetables 

 was 46,021, and their value $3,359,052, both acreage 

 and value being materially greater than in 1899. 

 Flowers and plants and nursery products increased in 

 acreage from 1,270 in 1899 to 4,017 in 1909, when the 

 value of their products was $1,466,949. 



The total quantity of orchard fruits produced in 1909 

 was 1,066,659 bushels, valued at $801,112. Apples 

 contributed 97.9 per cent of this quantity, and plums 

 and prunes most of the remainder. The apple trees of 

 bearing age in 1910 numbered 1,380,396; those not of 

 bearing age, 1,571,816. The production in 1909 was 

 1,044,156 bushels, valued at $769,114. The plum and 

 prune trees of bearing age in 1910 numbered 233,736; 

 those not of bearing age, 167,926. The production was 

 19,920 bushels, valued at $27,808. Other orchard-fruits 

 produced in 1909 were 1,526 bushels of cherries, valued 

 at $2,973; 559 bushels of peaches and nectarines, valued 

 at $659; 400 bushels of pears, valued at $465; and 

 apricots, quinces and mulberries in minor quantities. 



Grapes were produced to the amount of 293,805 

 pounds in 1909, valued at $11,021. In 1899 the pro- 

 duction of grapes was 573,272 pounds. The number of 

 vines of bearing age in 1910 was 61,916; those not of 

 bearing age, 35,950. 



The nut industry is not an important one in Minne- 

 sota, the total production in 1909 being 81,555 pounds, 

 valued at $1,838. The most important of the nuts is 

 the black walnut which produced in 1909, 65,074 

 pounds, valued at $1,490. Other nuts which are grow- 

 ing in Minnesota in very limited quantities are the 

 butternuts, hickory-nuts, chestnuts and others of 

 more or less importance. 



Of the small-fruits grown in Minnesota, strawberries 

 are by far the most important, with the different 

 raspberries ranking next. The acreage of strawberries 

 increased from 1,302 in 1899 to 1,873 m 1909, when the 

 production was 2,730,099 quarts, valued at $268,772. 

 The acreage of raspberries and loganberries increased 

 from 1,115 in 1899 to 1,388 in 1909, when the produc- 

 tion was 1,340,469 quarts, valued at $178,689. Other 

 small-fruits produced in 1909 were 182,825 quarts of 

 currants, valued at $19,783; 139,741 quarts of black- 

 berries and dewberries, valued at $17,696; 60,661 

 quarts of gooseberries, valued at $6,412; and 22,112 

 quarts of cranberries, valued at $1,981. 



Of the vegetables, potatoes far exceed any of the 

 others. The acreage of potatoes increased from 146,659 

 in 1899 to 223,692 in 1909, when the production was 

 26,802,948 bushels, valued at $7,685,259. The more 

 important of the other vegetables produced were 1,099 

 acres of onions, valued at $182,069; 2,315 acres of 

 cabbage, valued at $128,430; 4,697 acres of dry edible 

 beans, valued at $124,996; 2,829 acres of sweet corn, 



139 



valued at $62,387; 1,190 acres of cucumbers, valued 

 at $59,512; 499 acres of tomatoes, valued at $52,631, 

 and 453 acres of cantaloupes and muskmelons, valued 

 at $41,913. Vegetables of minor importance were 

 asparagus, green beans, beets, carrots, cauliflower, 

 celery, pop-corn, lettuce, green peas, radishes, rhubarb, 

 squash and watermelons. 



The acreage devoted to flowers and plants increased 

 from 143 in 1899 to 163 in 1909, an increase of 14 per 

 cent. The total area under glass in 1909 was 1,419,196 

 square feet, of which 1,332,758 were covered by green- 

 houses, and 86,438 by sashes and frames. The value of 

 flowers and plants produced in 1909 was $603,935, as 

 compared with $288,055 in 1899. 



.The acreage occupied by nursery products in Minne- 

 sota increased from 1,127 in 1899 to 3,854 in 1909, an 

 increase of 242 per cent. The value of the nursery 

 products in 1909 was $863,014, as compared with 

 $383,105 in 1899. LE RoT CADY. 



Iowa. 



Iowa (Fig. 2502) is nearly a rectangle, about 200 

 miles north and south between the parallels 40 36' 

 and 43 30', and 300 miles east and west, bordered 

 on the east by the Mississippi and on the west 

 by the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers. Its extreme 

 elevations are 444 feet in the southeast corner and 

 1,694 feet at the highest point near the north- 

 west corner, the average elevation being about 800 

 feet above the sea. The annual rainfall, coming 

 largely from the moist airs of the Gulf, varies with 

 the altitude; in the southeast corner, 37 inches and in 

 the northwest" corner, 27.37 inches, at Des Moines, 

 32.66 inches, which last is nearly the average for the 

 state. The annual temperature is 51 in the southeast, 

 44 in the northwest and 40 at Des Moines, also about 

 the average of the whole state. The surface is a gently 

 undulating grassy plain, well drained by numerous 

 streams flowing into the rivers at its borders. All these 

 streams are bordered more or less broadly with belts of 

 native timber, often many miles in width along the 

 lower parts of the larger ones. The divide between the 

 streams flowing eastwardly and those flowing west- 

 wardly is a line running from a little east of the north- 

 west comer, southwardly to about the middle of the 

 state at the south line, draining three-fourths of the 

 state into the Mississippi and one-fourth westwardly. 

 The entire surface, except a short and narrow belt 

 along the Mississippi at the northeast corner, is deeply 

 covered with glacial drift, the depth varying from a few 

 feet to 200 feet or more. In about half the state this 

 drift is overlaid more or less deeply with a peculiar 

 deposit called loess, this being mainly in the south and 

 extending north on the west side, and in a narrower 

 belt on the east, to the north line of the state. There 

 are no other regions the size of Iowa which contain 

 fewer acres unfit for agriculture; which is as profitable 

 in the northern as in the southern part. 



Horticulture is, however, profoundly affected by a 

 region of glacial drift which, coming in from the north, 

 occupies much more than half of the state; embracing 

 that part of Iowa lying north of a line drawn from 

 about latitude 42.5 (Sioux City) on the west, to 41.5 

 (Des Moines) in the central part, thence to the north- 

 east corner of the state, latitude about 43.5. In 

 this new drift soil, fruit-growing is much more difficult 

 than in the loess regions above mentioned. During 

 the past few years, however, artificial drainage in this 

 region has been rapidly developed, making it one of 

 the richest agricultural sections in the Union and greatly 

 increasing the range of horticultural possibilities. 

 There, while statistics are still unavailable, are found 

 the greatest development of the americana (native) 

 plums, strawberries, gooseberries and currants, in this 

 state, with splendid home market. Hardy varieties of 



