21S4 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



which is <mivers;illy folUnvinl in the stalo, liowcvor, is 

 that !idopt<xl in HHK> liy Iho Illinois State Hoiticuhural 

 Society. Acconling to lliis staiidwd, appl&s are graded 

 :»s Xo. I's, No. 'J"s, and culls. 



The horticultural inlcrest.s of Illinois have been well 

 liHikeil after and carefully plac«l on a pcrnumeiit basis 

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

 bixly establishing the Illinois .State Horticultural 

 Society (which wa.s organi/.e<l in IS.').')) a-s a public cor- 

 poration of the slate. Tlie Stale llorlicullinal Society 

 is divideil 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 llUnois 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 1010, is 35,867,520 acres. Of this, 

 90.7 per cent or 32,522,037 acres are in farms; 28,048,- 

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

 acres are in woodland; and there are 1,320,735 acres of 

 other imimproved 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 1000, 50 per cent of the improved land was 

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

 of the i)roducts from the cereals was 8297,523,098, 

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

 crops. Hay and forage occupied 11.0 per cent of the 

 improved land, or 3,340,435 acres. The value of the 

 products wa.s .S40,5(>0,22(), which was 10.9 per cent of 

 the total value of all crops. Crops of lesser importance 

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

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

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

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

 forest products of the farms was .13,325,259 in 1909 and 

 $2,.')55,890 in 1800. 



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 

 nut.s grown in 1900 was 84,304,847, as compared with 

 S4,168,.50O in 1899. The total acreage of potatoes and 

 other vegetables in 1000 was 268,011, 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 1900, as compared with 16,794 in 1890, 

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

 fruits in 1900 was 81,100,747. The raising of flowers 

 and plants and nursery products is of comparative 

 importance, 4,703 acres' being devoted to them in 1009 

 and the product being value<l at $4,517,085. 



The total quantity of ordiard-fruits produced in 1909 

 wa-s 4,039,211 bushels, valued at $3,8.57,743. Apples 

 produced three-fifths of this quantity, the production 

 in 1900 being 3,093,321 bu.sheLs, valiied at 82,111,866. 

 PeachfcS and nectarines were next in importance of the 

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

 valued at -8999,516. In 1900 the production of cherries 

 was 287,376 bushels, valuefl at .8453,474 ; that of pears, 

 249,.365 bushels, valued at 8202,065; that of plums and 

 prunes, 78,.566 bushels, valued at .?80,3.S4; that of 

 quinces, 6,723 bushels, valued at .88,037; and that of 

 apricots, 1,2.50 bu.shels, valued at $1,4.'J7. 



Grapes produced in 1909 amounted to 16,582,785 

 pounds, valuwl at 8426,468. The production in 1899 

 was 20,0fm,4(X) pounds. 



The total production of all the nuts in 1900 was 714,- 

 478 pounds, valued at 820,5.50. The most important 

 of the nuts were the pecans, producing 107,069 [jfiunds, 

 valued at 810,301 ; the black walnuts, producing 530,730 

 pounds, valuefl at 87,411; and hickory-nuts, producing 



60,124 pounds, valued at 81,0.54. The nuts of lesser 

 importance were the Persian or Enghsh walnuts, the 

 chestnuts, and the butternuts. 



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

 ))ortant, with blackberries ami dewberries, and rasp- 

 berries and loganberries ranking second and third, 

 resi)ectively. The acreage of strawberries in Illinois in 

 10()0 was 5,410, producing 8,031,824 quarts of berries, 

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

 dewberries was 3,.503, producing 2,015,473 quarts of 

 berries, valued at .8237,058; and the acreage of rasp- 

 berries and loganberries was 1,045, producing 1,834,337 

 quarts of berries, valued at $101,401. The small-fruits 

 of less importance that were produced in 1009 were: 

 541,408 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 Ilhnois, potatoes are 

 by far the most important. The acreage in 1900 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 $506,76(). The acreage devoted to 

 the production of all other vegetables, excluding the 

 potato, sweet potato and yam, was, in 1900, 120,201 

 and the production was valued at $0,302,296. The lead- 

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

 uct were as follows: sweet corn, 10,976 acres, valued at 

 .$558,746; onions, 3,315 acres, valued at 8546,951; 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 

 $188,860; asparagus, 2,241 acres, valued at $181,557; 

 231 acres of lettuce, valued at 8153,784. Other vege- 

 tables of less importance in 1900 were green beans, beets, 

 cantaloupes and muskmelons, carrots, cauhflower, 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 1000 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 $1,894,900 in 1809. 



The acreage occupied by farms and establishments 

 growing nursery products in 1900 was 3,454, as com- 

 pared with 3,142 in 1809. The value of the products 

 in 1000 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. 2490) and few if any have made 

 more use of them along horticultural hues. 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 faoihties are 

 provided. 



Almost any kind of soU may be found in every 

 county in the state and often uiion 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 

 api)ears so light as to be worthless, a clay subsoil is 

 often found u])on 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 belter adapted. 



