NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2207 



city of North Platte, and the Valentine Experimental 

 Sub-station, near the town of Valentine. 



In addition to the work done at the College of Agri- 

 culture, horticulture is now being taught at the State 

 Normal schools of Peru and Kearney, the School of 

 Agriculture at Curtis, and in connection with agricul- 

 ture in almost every high-school in the state. 



Extension work is conducted in connection with the 

 College, one man devoting his entire time to this work. 



The Nebraska State Horticultural Society was organ- 

 ized in 1869, with J. H. Masters as first president. 

 Local fruit-growers' associations have been formed in all 

 the leading districts, and in 1912 the Eastern Nebraska 

 Fruit-Growers' Association was formed. A uniform sys- 

 tem of packing and grading has been adopted which, 

 with the present shipping facilities, insures proper dis- 

 tribution and good prices for horticultural products. 



Statistics (Thirteenth Census). 



The approximate land area of Nebraska in 1910 was 

 49,157,120 acres. The land in farms was 78.6 per cent 

 of the land area, or 38,622,021 acres. Of this land in 

 farms 24,382,557 acres were improved; 803,206 were 

 woodland; and other unimproved land in farms num- 

 bered 13,436,238 acres. The number of all the farms 

 in 1910 was 129,678. The average acreage to a farm was 

 297.3. [The total area of the state is 77,520 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops of Nebraska are 

 cereals and hay and forage. The acreage of cereals 

 increased from 12,071,703 in 1899 to 12,540,049 in 1909, 

 when the value of the cereals produced was $153,666,- 

 652, or 78.3 per cent of the total value of all crops. The 

 acreage occupied by hay and forage increased from 

 2,823,652 in 1899 to 4,520,034 in 1909, when the value 

 of the hay and forage produced was $31,729,691, or 16.2 

 per cent of the total value of all crops. In 1909 sugar 

 crops were produced, from 8,225 acres, to the value of 

 $241,272, the acreage being a decrease, however, of 38.8 

 per cent from that of 1899. The forest products of farms 

 in 1909 was valued at $795,053, as compared with 

 $412,746 in 1899. 



Horticultural crops produced in Nebraska are fruits 

 and nuts, small-fruits, vegetables including potatoes, 

 and flowers and plants and nursery products. The value 

 of the fruits and nuts produced in 1909 was $2,078,340, 

 as compared with $761,053 in 1899. Small-fruits in- 

 creased in acreage from 1,171 in 1899 to 1,411 in 1909, 

 an increase of 20.5 per cent, when 1,594,421 quarts 

 were produced, valued at $159,169. In 1909 the total 

 acreage of potatoes and other vegetables was 147,594 

 and their value $5,931,738. Excluding potatoes and 

 sweet potatoes and yams, the acreage of other vege- 

 tables increased from 34,532 in 1899 to 36,164 in 1909, 

 when the value of the vegetable products was $2,118,- 

 393. Flowers and plants and nursery products in- 

 creased in acreage from 1,680 in 1899 to 2,091 in 1909, 

 when the value of the products was $909,221. 



The total production of orchard fruits in 1909 was 

 3,572,253 bushels, valued at $1,932,124. More than 

 nine-tenths of this quantity was produced by apples, 

 and most of the remainder by peaches and nectarines 

 and cherries. The apple trees of bearing age in 1910 

 were 2,937,178; those not of bearing age 967,133; and 

 the production in 1909 was 3,321,073 bushels, valued 

 at $1,612,765. Peach and nectarine trees of bearing 

 age in 1910 numbered 1,188,373; those not of bearing 

 age 263,882; and the production in 1909 was 110,180 

 bushels, valued at $91,129. Cherry trees of bearing age 

 in 1910 numbered 494,468; those not of bearing age, 

 267,529; and the production of cherries in 1909 was 

 89,876 bushels, valued at $164,872. Other orchard- 

 fruits produced in 1909 were: 6,700 bushels of pears, 

 valued at $9,802; 41,910 bushels of plums and prunes, 

 valued at $50,934; 864 bushels of apricots, valued at 

 $1,229; 995 bushels of quinces, valued at $993; and 665 

 bushels of mulberries, valued at $400. 



The production of grapes in 1909 amounted to 4,752,- 

 217 pounds, valued at $137,295. The grape-vines of 

 bearing age in 1910 numbered 1,221,736; those not of 

 bearing age, 380,788. 



Nuts were produced in Nebraska in 1909 to the 

 amount of 384,325 pounds, valued at $8,906. The 

 black walnut is the only nut of importance, the pro- 

 duction in 1909 being 381,968 pounds, valued at $8,740. 



Of the small-fruits grown in Nebraska, strawberries 

 are the most important, with blackberries and dew- 

 berries second. The acreage of strawberries increased 

 from 369 in 1899 to 562 in 1909, when the production 

 was 654,061 quarts, valued at $65,772. Blackberries 

 and dewberries increased in acreage from 152 in 1899 

 to 428 in 1909, when the production was 501,872 quarts, 

 valued at $46,648. The production of raspberries and 

 loganberries was 265,183 quarts, valued at $29,841; that 

 of currants 90,779 quarts, valued at $8,592; and that 

 of gooseberries 82,086 quarts, valued at $8,259. 



The acreage devoted to potatoes increased from 

 79,901 in 1899 to 111,151 in 1909, when the production 

 was 8,117,775 bushels, valued at $3,785,224. The 

 acreage of sweet potatoes and yams decreased from 551 

 in 1899 to 279 in 1909, when the production was 28,500 

 bushels, valued at $28,121. The more important of the 

 other vegetables produced were 3,167 acres of sweet 

 corn, valued at $46,208; 725 acres of watermelons, 

 valued at $36,223; 2,167 acres of pop-corn, valued at 

 $33,854; 348 acres of cabbage, valued at $27,144; 282 

 acres of tomatoes, valued at $21,012; and 163 acres of 

 onions, valued at $18,659. Vegetable of lesser impor- 

 tance were asparagus, cantaloupes and muskmelons, 

 celery, cucumbers, squash, and turnips. 



The acreage devoted to flowers and plants increased 

 from 86 in 1899 to 94 in 1909. The total area under 

 glass in 1909 was 844,010 square feet, of which 790,305 

 were covered by greenhouses, and 53,705 by sashes and 

 frames. The value of the flowers and plants in 1909 

 was $356,168, as compared with $142,636 in 1899. 



The acreage devoted to nursery products increased, 

 from 1,594 in 1899 to 1,997 in 1909, an increase of 25.3 

 per cent. The value of the nursery products in 1909 

 was $553,053, as compared with $234,033, in 1899. 



J. R. COOPER. 



Kansas. 



The commercial horticulture of Kansas (Fig. 2507) 

 is in large part centralized in a few localities. Twenty- 

 five counties produced about nine-tenths of the 

 10,000 carloads of apples sold in 1912. The last tenth 

 is grown in many scattered localities that are especi- 

 ally suited for horticultural work, sheltered valleys 

 where the soil is deep, rich and always moist. In 

 nearly every one of the remaining eighty counties suc- 

 cessful fruit and vegetable plantations may be found. 

 Sixty counties contributed more than two carloads of 

 peaches to the total of 1,300 carloads sold in 1912. 

 Thirty counties contributed one or more carloads of 

 strawberries to the total of 300 cars sold in 1913. 



Two sections of the state have large areas of land 

 particularly suitable for horticultural products. The 

 northeastern counties have a considerable area of glacial 

 soils that is well suited to fruit-growing and in which the 

 area devoted to fruit may be expected to increase 

 constantly. The Arkansas Valley has a large acreage 

 of sandy loam underlaid with a porous clay subsoil 

 which has proved to be well suited to fruit-growing. 

 The inexhaustible supply of water which may be 

 cheaply secured for irrigation by pumping has recently 

 been utilized in commercial orchards and gardens and 

 the possibilities of this region are not easily estimated. 



A large proportion of Kansas will for long years to 

 come be devoted to grain- and stock-farming. Thous- 

 ands of acres well suited to fruit and truck crops are 

 devoted to corn, wheat, alfalfa, and grass. Fruit- and 



