HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 77 



state in farms was about 23,750,000 acres or 78 per 

 cent in 1880. The area in improved land was also 

 largest at that time and was 17,700,000 acres or 58 

 per cent of the land area. Figs. 15 and 16 show the 

 rural population of the State. 



The largest total acreage in hay and forage was in 

 1870 when it was 5,600,000. The State has always 

 had a large area in forest and timber land and be- 

 sides the 23 per cent not accounted for in farms in 

 1880, or an even larger percentage in other years, a 

 considerable proportion of the farm land has always 

 been kept in timber so that never less than one-third 

 of the State has been so occupied, and a further in- 

 crease is likely to occur. Grass and pasture have al- 

 ways occupied a large area, partly because of the 

 land that was too rough and stony to be well adapted 

 to other purposes, partly due to the fact that the 

 climate of the State is well suited to these crops, to 

 the large proportion of springy wet soil, and to the 

 relatively profitable demand for hay and pasture. 

 The area in cultivated crops other than hay has al- 

 wsijs been low in proportion to the total, and since 

 1844 has swung very close to 4,000,000 acres, or 

 about 13 per cent of the total. It has been from 20 

 to 25 per cent of the total improved area in farms 

 and 50 to 60 per cent of the total land in specified 

 cultivated crops. The largest total acreage in crops 

 other than hay and fruits in this period was in 1854 

 when it was nearly 4,200,000. It was low during the 

 Civil AVar period and high again between 1875 and 

 1880. Since 1909, it has been near 3,500,000 acres. 



