78 RURAL NEW YORE 



The area in fruits cannot accurately be determined 

 before 1909 when it was 500,000 acres, and this had 

 increased to 694,000 in 1917. Before 1890, the pro- 

 portion of commercial orchards was small, most of the 

 main area being for home use. The increase since 

 that date has been mostly of the commercial or ship- 

 ping type. Even yet, the proportion of the total acre- 

 age of fruit that is actively put on the market is rela- 

 tively small and probably does not exceed one-third of 

 the crop in a normal season. 



The land area is still far from well developed. 

 The productive capacity of the land has decreased on 

 partif ular farms and in special regions. The prob- 

 lem of maintaining fertility has come to the fore- 

 ground. But from a consideration of the average 

 yield of all crops over a period of forty-seven years, 

 from 1866 to 1913, it is difficult to prove a decrease 

 in yields. Taking the yield in 1866 as 100, there 

 have been nineteen years when the average yield was 

 equal to or greater than this figure and twenty-eight 

 when it was less. From 1879 to 1896 inclusive, there 

 was not a year when the yield was above the base fig- 

 ure. This was the period of agricultural depression 

 and readjustment in the East. In the period from 

 1897 to 1912, the yield has been above that base 

 figure eleven times. In these figures is expressed 

 the more careful adjustment to areas adapted to the 

 cultivation of the main crops of the State in order 

 to meet the outside com])etition. 



