2 BULLETIN 626, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The tables in this bulletin show the returns for each of the three 

 types of pasture for the United States as a whole, for geographic 

 divisions, for States, for counties, and for the Territory of Hawaii. 

 No data on pasture were collected for Alaska or Porto Rico. 



ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIAL. 



Tables I and II present, respectively, the acreage of farm pasture 

 land by geographic divisions and States, and by counties. For com- 

 parative purposes certain other items are included in these tables. 

 The total land in farms is taken from the census reports. The land 

 in crops also is taken from the census reports but includes estimates 

 for the acreage of fruit crops, which are not reported in the census. 

 These estimates were obtained by dividing the number of trees given 

 in the census by the average number of trees per acre as estimated 

 by the Bureau of Plant Industry. The figures for the item " All 

 other farm land" are obtained by subtracting those for the crop 

 and pasture land from those for the total farm land. This item 

 includes woods not pastured, yards and barnyards, roads, fallow and 

 waste land. (See note 2, page 12.) 



Table I also shows the percentage distribution of farm land into its 

 various classes, and Table II, the percentages for crop land and 

 pasture land by counties. A column showing the number of acres in 

 pasture per 100 acres in crops also is included in Tables I and II. 



FARM PASTURE LAND LN THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE. 



Of the total farm land, which comprised about 879,000,000 acres 

 in 1909, somewhat more than one- third was in crops, about one- third 

 was in pasture, and somewhat less than one-third comprised all other 

 kinds of farm land. The fact that there was nine-tenths as much 

 pasture land as crop land is enormously significant in connection with 

 the possibilities of expanding crop production. It must be noted, 

 however, that a large part of the pasture land is unimproved, about 

 99,000,000 acres being in " woodland pasture" and 108,000,000 acres 

 "other unimproved pasture"; but even the improved pasture alone 

 represented over 84,000,000 acres, or nearly one-tenth of the total 

 land in farms. This improved pasture doubtless consists largely of 

 land that is pastured in rotation with crop production in interme- 

 diate years. It may be used for crops three years out of four, two 

 years out of three, or one year out of two, but most of it undoubt- 

 edly is arable land; in fact the definition of this type of pasture is 

 "improved land in pasture but which can be plowed or mowed." 

 Of the unused farm land, that is, land not in crops or pasture, which 

 comprised about 269,000,000 acres, or 30.6 per cent of the total land 



