58 
SOIL SURVEY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY. 
was originally included in the Oneida Indian Reservation. In 
the northwestern portion of the county in Maine, Deer Creek, 
Bovina, and Maple Creek townships there are considerable areas 
which are also unimproved due to the fact that in this region 
there is a large amount of poorly drained land and also some 
that is of a sandy nature. The greater proportion of the county, 
however, is highly improved agriculturally. 
While practically all of the general farm crops now grown 
were produced in the early history of the region, the relative 
importance of a number of crops has changed to a considerable 
degree. From the various census reports we gather very inter¬ 
esting information along this line. In 1880 there were 40,906 
acres devoted to wheat which was nearly three times the acreage 
devoted to oats, and more than twice the acreage devoted to 
corn. In 1890 there were only 22,000 acres in wheat, but the 
acreage of oats had increased to over 31,000. In 1910 the acre¬ 
age of wheat had dropped to 549 while the acreage of corn 
was 28,000 and oats 53,000. In 1920 there were 6,748 acres in 
wheat. In 1880 there were only about 3,000 acres in barley; in 
1910 there were over 17,000 acres, and in 1920, 9,600 acres. 
The following table shows the relative importance of the lead¬ 
ing crops over a period of years. 
TABLE SHOWING ACREAGE OP LEADING CROPS OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. 
Crop 
1880 
1890 
1900 
1910 
1920 
Wheat - __ _ _ __ ___ 
40,906 
17,569 
15,209 
2,964 
1,269 
22,009 
11,908 
31,478 
3,097 
4,191 
15,113 
20,344 
54,680 
10,229 
2,961 
549 
28,038 
53,004 
17,403 
2,744 
48,502 
7,301 
21,177 
46,116 
9,600 
2,923 
59,181 
Oom_ ... _ _ ___ 
O ’ts_ _ _ _ 
Barley____ _ 
Rye __ _ _ _ 
Hay- 
PRESENT STATUS OF AGRICULTURE. 
The Agriculture of Outagamie County at present consists 
chiefly of general or mixed farming with dairying as the most 
important branch. The chief crops grown according to acre¬ 
age (taken from the 1920 census) are hay, oats, corn, barley, 
wheat, potatoes, and rye, with buckwheat, peas, sugar beats, 
and beans as crops of less importance. During the past few 
years the acreage of wheat has increased over ten fold. This 
increase was undoubtedly due to the greater demand for wheat 
owing to the war situation. 
