510 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



The North Central division is often spoken of as a section 

 uniform in character and quality ; but such is far from the case. 

 For example, the price of land in Illinois is reported at $94.90 

 per acre, and in North Dakota at $25.70, the other ten states 

 ranging between these extremes. Even within a state there 

 are great variations. For example, in Illinois and Iowa there is 

 much land selling for more than $200 an acre, while at the same 

 time a whole county in Illinois is reported at $17 per acre 

 for land and buildings. Nebraska has land selling for $150 in 

 the eastern part of the state, while in the western part there are 

 abundant examples of the economist's no-rent land. Moreover, 

 both in Ohio and in North Dakota there is land which has not 

 been farmed at all. The topography, the nature of the soil, and 

 the length of time it has been cultivated all help to determine 

 the size of the farm, which in Ohio averages 89 acres, and in 

 North Dakota 382 acres. The density of population is corre- 

 spondingly unlike, ranging from 1 1 7 per square mile in Ohio 

 down to J .6 in South Dakota, while in parts of Ohio the density 

 is several times the average for the state, and in South Dakota 

 it falls below 1 per square mile for some counties. 



There is great diversity in the character of the soil and its 

 primary condition. The greatest prairies of North America were 

 in these states, and some of the best of the pine forests and ex- 

 tensive hardwood forests. The swamps are great in extent in the 

 northern part, though irrigation is essential to good crops in the 

 western part. As a result the character of the farming varies very 

 greatly. Certain states may be characterized by the leading type of 

 agriculture within them. Ohio has long been known as a sheep- 

 growing state, Illinois as a cereal-producing state, Wisconsin as a 

 dairy state, Iowa as a cattle- and swine-producing state. Minnesota 

 and the two Dakotas are known far and wide as the producers of 

 wheat, barley, and flax ; Michigan is noted for fruit and sugar- 

 beets ; and so through the list. It is not necessary, however, to 

 go from one state to another to find changing conditions. There 

 is much dissimilarity within any given state, and consequent vari- 

 ety in the agriculture. In Wisconsin, for example, there is the 

 regular grain-growing, corn, oats, and barley ; there are cattle 



