FABM MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF CHESTED COUNTY, l'\. 11 

 Table I. — Census <hiiu showing changes in the agriculture of Chester County. 



Live stock and crops. 



Dairy cows 



i >ther cattle 



Bwine 



Sheep 



Milk sold (thousands of gallons) 



Butler produced (thousands of 



pounds) 



Wheat (thousands of bushels) 



Barley (thousands of bushels) 



Oats (thousands of bushels) 



Rye (thousands of bushels) 



Corn (thousands of bushels) 



Hay and forage (thousands of tons) 



16,000 

 4.5,000 

 64,500 

 56, 700 



438 



45 



1,080 



86 



826 

 78 



1850 



19,604 

 35,500 

 36,600 

 13,400 



2,092 



547 



2 



1,146 



52 



1,339 



96 



I860 



25,000 

 29, 900 

 31,500 

 11,700 



2,730 



801 



5 



1,227 



32 



1,590 



94 



1870 



32, 700 

 21,100 

 28, 200 

 13,100 

 1,598 



2,848 

 754 

 1.6 



1,034 

 12 



1,540 

 115 



1880 



42,400 

 18,400 



34,000 

 15, 100 



5, 7.59 



4,247 

 775 

 .9 

 1,137 

 20 

 1,965 

 126 



49, 300 

 12,000 

 3.5, 600 

 11,200 

 24, 000 



1,628 



882 



_ 9 



868 



19 



1,9.59 



162 



45, 700 

 21,700 

 30, 500 

 9, 900 

 17,038 



1,314 

 785 

 .2 

 925 

 22 

 2, 687 

 131 



45, 400 



I!), 700 



21, 100 



5,300 



20,206 



573 

 928 

 1.2 

 777 

 27 

 1,882 

 142 



There were 16,000 dairy cows in Chester County in 1840. The num- 

 bers increased rather rapidly till 1890, since which time there has been 

 a sIoav decrease, due mainly to a decrease in the area of improved land 

 and to scarcity of farm labor. In 1840 dairy cows were kept mainly 

 for production of home supplies and a small amount of butter for 

 sale. In 1850 slightly more than 2,000,000 pounds of butter were pro- 

 duced. This production increased until about 1880, having doubled 

 in this time. Since then the amount has decreased to less than one- 

 seventh of the former maximum. 



About 1870 the city of Philadelphia began reaching out into 

 Chester County for market milk, the county supplying 1,600.000 

 gallons in that year. From 1870 to 1890 this industry increased enor- 

 mously, reaching 24,000,000 gallons in the latter year. Since that time 

 the business has decreased slightly, owing mainly to the decrease in 

 the area of improved land. Corn has always been an important crop 

 in this region, being second only to hay in acreage. Its relative im- 

 portance is increasing. Wheat follows corn in acreage and has main- 

 tained about its present status for the past century. 



Oats were formerly an important crop, but since 1890 there has 

 been a gradual decrease, until at the present time they occupy only 

 half the area of wheat in the county as a whole and only one-third in 

 the surveyed area. 



Hay has always been important and its production increased 

 steadily to 1890. During the next 10 years it decreased considerably, 

 mainly because of the decrease in the area of improved land. 



There has been a gradual increase in potato production in Chester 

 County since its early history, though the crop has never been an 

 important one. 



Previous to 1840 rye and barley were important crops in the county. 

 Barley practically disappeared during the panic of the forties. Rye 

 decreased steadily until 1870, since which time there has been a slow 

 increase, though it is still an unimportant crop. 



