84. c ] Machinery and Labor 47 



THE EFFECT OF THE USE OF MACHINERY UPON THE SIZE 

 OF FARMS AND THE RESULTING RELATIONSHIP BE- 

 TWEEN THE DEPENDENT AND THE INDEPENDENT 

 FARMING CLASSES 



The average size of farms of the Continental United 

 States, and in the several divisions, as shown by the 

 successive census returns from 1850 to the present, 

 given in acres, is as follows i 1 



S. Cent. div. . . . 156.0 . . 144.0 . . 150.6 . . 194.4 . . 321.3 . . 291.0 

 Western div. . . .393.5. . 324.1 . .312.9. .336.4. .366.9. .694.9 



An inspection of the foregoing table shows 

 that for the period from 1850 to 1880, for the 

 whole United States and for each division, except 

 the South Central, in 1860, there was a constant 

 tendency toward smaller farms. In the North At- 

 lantic and South Central divisions this tendency is 

 shown to have been still in operation in 1890 and the 

 average size of farms in the North Atlantic division in 

 1900, although greater than in 1890, was still a trifle 

 below the average shown for 1880. In the South At- 

 lantic division the tendency toward smaller farms has 

 continued unbroken to the present time ; but other- 

 wise, for the several divisions and for the United 

 States, as a whole, the year 1880 marks the point of 

 the smallest average sized farms. The returns subse- 

 quent to that date, except in the cases noted, show a 

 marked increase in the average size of farms. 



The total area in farms may, however, be somewhat 

 misleading, when considered as an index of the extent 



1 Twelfth Census, Agriculture I, page 688. 



