Chapter LXXV: Act 1893: compelled sellers of fertilizers (i.e. manures), (4)

No marked changes in the numbers of sheep have taken place. During the period 1880-1890 there was an increase in numbers amounting to about 8.8%. After 1893 there was a rather steady decrease, with fluctuations amounting to a marked depression after 1894. This industry is very susceptible to adverse influences, and felt keenly a depression in the price of wool. The increase began again in 1898, and in 1903 the figure of 63,964,876 was reached; in 1906 it was 50,631,619,

The numbers and values of swine constantly fluctuate with the movement and value of the Indian corn crops. The returns for 1890 (51,602,780) showed a numerical increase of 51.6% over those of 1880; then followed a steady decrease in numbers down to 1900 (57,079,156), since which time there has been considerable increase, so that in 1906 there were 52,102,847--the maximum excepting 1901, when there were 56,982,142 swine on farms. The movement in values was similar to that in numbers. From $4.28 in 1880, the average farm price of hogs increased steadily to $6.73 in 1885. The lowest figure, $4.15, was reached in 1891, and after numerous fluctuations it became $4.40 in 1899 and $7.78 in 1903; in 1906 it was $6.18.

The total value of farm animals showed a steady increase from 1880 to 1890, with slight variations in 1885 and 1886. Following 1890 there was a steady decrease with the exception of slight increases in 1892 and 1893. In 1880 the total value of farm animals in the United States was $1,576,917,556. In 1890 it had increased to $2,418,766,028, or 53.4%. In 1896 the value had dimished to $1,727,926,084--a decrease of 28.6% from the 1890 values, and an increase of 9.6% over those of 1880. The value in 1906 showed an increase of 133% over that of 1880.

The exports of live stock and its products have increased enormously in recent years, both in quantity and value. This is a especially true of the exportation of beef, cattle and meat products. The exports of cattle increased from 182,750 in 1880 to 331,720 in 1895, or 81 1/2%, and to 567,806 in 1905 or 210% over 1880, and values from $13,340,000 in 1880 to $30,600,000 in 1895, an increase of 129%, and to $40,590,000 in 1905 or 204%. The average value of cattle exported increase from $19 in 1870 to $73 in 1880 and $92 in 1895, decreasing to $71.50 in 1905. Only the best and heaviest cattle are exported, these, of course, commanding a much higher price than the average of the country.

The total value of farm animals exported from the United States has flucuated greatly. On the whole, however, the value increased from $16,000,000 in round numbers in 1880 to $46,500,000 in 1905, or 190%. Table XXXIX. shows the number and value of live animals exported between 1880 and 1905.

TABLE XXXIX.--Number and Value of Farm Animals Exported from the United States, 1880-1905.

Year ending 30th Horses. Mules. June. Number. Value. Number. Value.

1880 3,060 $675,139 5,198 $532,362 1885 1,947 377,692 1,028 127,580 1890 3,501 680,410 3,544 447,108 1894 5,246 1,108,995 2,063 240,961 1895 13,984 2,209,298 2,515 186,452 1900 16 64,722 7,612,616 43,369 3,919,478 1901 16 82,250 8,873,845 34,405 3,210,267 1902 16 103,020 10,048,046 27,586 2,692,298 1903 34,007 3,152,159 4,294 521,725 1904 42,001 3,189,100 3,658 412,971 1905 34,822 3,175,259 5,826 645,464

Year ending 30th Cattle. Sheep. June. Number. Value. Number. Value.

1880 182,756 $13,344,195 209,137 $892,647 1885 135,890 12,906,690 234,509 512,563 1890 394,836 31,261,131 67,521 243,077 1894 359,278 33,461,922 132,370 852,763 1895 331,722 30,603,796 405,748 2,630,686 1900 16 397,286 30,635,153 125,772 733,477 1901 16 459,218 37,566,980 297,925 1,933,000 1902 16 392,884 29,902,212 358,720 1,940,060 1903 402,178 29,848,936 176,961 1,067,860 1904 593,409 42,256,291 301,313 1,954,604 1905 567,806 40,598,048 268,365 1,687,321

Year ending 30th Swine. June. Number. Value. Total Value.

1880 83,434 $421,089 $15,865,432 1885 55,025 579,183 14,503,713 1890 91,148 909,042 33,540,768 1894 1,553 14,753 35,659,394 1895 7,130 72,424 35,702,656 1900 16 51,180 394,813 43,295,537 1901 16 22,318 238,465 51,822,557 1902 16 8,368 88,330 44,670,946 1903 4,031 40,923 34,631,603 1904 6,345 53,780 47,866,746 1905 44,495 414,692 46,520,784

Since 1890 there has been a great development in the production of fruit and vegatables. Local market gardens are numerous in the vicinity of all cities, and highly specialized ``truck gardening,'' that is, the growing of early fruits and vegatables for transportation to distant markets where the seasons are later, has made rapid progress in the South Atlantic states. The census reports of 1900 use the potato acreage in these states as an index of the rate of development of truck gardening; the southern potato being largely a truck garden crop. In seven counties of Virginia the increase in acreage from 1889 to 1899 was 100%; in eleven counties of North Carolina, 314%; in five counties of South Carolina, 134%; in nine counties of Georgia, 111%; in six counties of Florida, 309%; in five counties of Alabama, 277%. Irish and sweet potatoes are the most important vegatables raised; the North Central state leading in the production of the former and the South Atlantic states in the production of the latter. The growth of the Irish potato industry is shown by the following table:--

Year. Acreage. Yield (bushels).

1870 1,325,119 114,775,000 1880 1,842,510 167,659,570 1890 2,651,579 148,289,696 1900 2,611,054 210,926,897 1905 2,996,757 260,741,294

The production of sweet potatoes, as reported in census years, was as follows:--

Year. Acreage. Yield (bushels).

1869 .. 21,709,824 1879 444,817 33,378,693 1889 524,588 43,950,261 1899 537,447 42,526,606

The total acreage in vegetables reported in 1899 was 5,758,191 or 2% of the acreage in all crops; the value of the yield was $242,170,148 or 8.3% of the value of all crops.

The value of the fruit crop of 1899 was $131,423,517; the value of orchard fruits was $83,751,840; of grapes, $14,000,937; of small fruits, $25,030,877; of sub-tropical fruits, $8,549,863. The development of fruit-growing during the decade 1889-1899 appears from the following table:-

Yield (bushels).
Crop. 1889. 1899.

Apples 143,105,689 175,397,626 Apricots 1,001,482 2,642,128 Cherries 1,476,719 2,873,499 Peaches 36,367,747 15,433,62317 Pears 3,064,375 6,625,417 Plums and Prunes 2,554,392 8,764,032

In 1899 California contributed 21.5% of the fruit crop; New York, 12.1%; Pennsylvania, 7.5%; Ohio, 6.8%; and Michigan 4.5%

Agricultural Education.

The agricultural schools of the United States owe their origin to the movement against the old classical school and in favour of technical education which began in most civilized nations about the middle of the 19th century. A rapidly growing country with great natural resources needed men educated in the sciences and arts of life, and this want was first manifested in the United States by a popular agitation on behalf of agricultural schools. A number of so-called agricultural schools were started between 1850 and 1860 in the eastern and middle states, where the movement made itself most felt, but without trained teachers and suitable methods they accomplished very little. They were only ordinary schools with farms attached. The second constitution of the state of Michigan, adopted in 1850, provided for an agricultural school, and this was the first one established in the United States. The General Assembly of the state of Pennsylvania incorporated the Farmers' High School, now the State College, in 1854. Maryland incorporated her agricultural college in 1856, and Massachusetts chartered a school of agriculture in the same year. The agitation, which finally reached Congress, led to the establishment of the so-called ``land-grant'' or agricultural colleges. The establishment of these colleges was due chiefly to the wisdom and foresight of Justin S. Morrill, who introduced the first bill for their endowment in the House of Representatives on the 14th of December 1857, saw the latest one approved by the president on the 30th of August 1890, and is justly known, therefore, as the father of the American agricultural colleges. The first act for the benefit of these colleges, passed in 1862, was entitled ``An Act donating public lands to the several states and territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts,'' and granted to each state an amount of land equal to 30,000 acres for each senator and representative in Congress to which the state was entitled at that time. The object of the grant was stated to be ``the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college'' (in each state), ``where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts . . . in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life.'' The total number of acres of land granted to the states under this act was 10,320,843, of which by far the greater part is sold. This grant has produced an endowment fund amounting to $12,045,629. The land still unsold in 1905 amounted to 844,164 acres, valued at $4,168,746. The invested land-grant funds yielded these colleges a total annual income of $855,083 in 1905. Including the United States appropriation under a supplementary act of 1890, commonly known as the Second Morrill Act, which now gives each college $25,000 a year, the interest on the land-grant and all other invested funds, all state appropriations and other sources of revenue, these colleges had in 1904-1905 a total income of $11,659,955. Sixty-six institutions had been organized under this act up to 1905, of which sixty-three maintain courses in agriculture; twenty-one are departments of agriculture and engineering in state universities; twenty-seven are separate colleges of agriculture and mechanic arts; and the remainder are organized in various other ways. Separate schools for persons of African descent had been established under this act in sixteen southern states. These colleges take students prepared in the common schools and give them a course of from two to four years in the sciences pertaining to agriculture. Many of them offer short courses, varying from four to twelve weeks in length, in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and dairying, which are largely attended. Agricultural experiment stations are connected with all the colleges, and many of them conduct farmers' institutes, farmers' reading clubs and correspondence classes.

The agricultural experiment stations of the United States grew up in connexion with the agricultural colleges. Several of the colleges early attempted to establish separate departments for research and practical experiments, on the plan of the German stations. The act establishing the Agricultural College of Maryland required it to conduct ``a series of experiments upon the cultivation of cereals and other plants adapted to the latitude and climate of the state of Maryland.'' This was the first suggestion of an experiment station in America, but resulted in little. The first experiment station was established at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1875, partly under state aid, partly through a gift from Orange Judd, partly in connexion with the Sheffield Scientific School, which from 1863 to 1892 was the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts for the state of Connecticut, and partly under control of Wesleyan University, which contributed the use of its chemical laboratory; in 1877 it was removed to New Haven. The state of Connecticut made in 1875 an appropriation of $2800 (and in 1877 $5000 per annum) for this school--the first state appropriation of the kind. The state of North Carolina established, on the 12th of March 1877, an agricultural experiment and fertilizer control station in connexion with its state university. The Cornell University experiment station was organized by that institution in 1879. The New Jersey station was organized in 1880 and the station of the University of Tennessee in 1882. From these beginnings the experiment stations multiplied until, when Congress passed the National (or Hatch) Experiment Station Act in 1887, there were seventeen already in existence. The Hatch Experiment Station Act, so called from the fact that its leading advocate was William Henry Hatch (1833-1896) of Missouri, appropriated $15,000 a year to each agricultural college for the purpose of conducting an agricultural experiment station. The object of the stations was declared to be, ``to conduct original researches or verify experiments on the physiology of plants and animals; the diseases to which they are severally subject, with the remedies for the same; the chemical composition of useful plants at their different stages of growth; the comparative advantages of rotative cropping as pursued under a varying series of crops; the capacity of new plants or trees for acclimation; the analysis of soils and water; the chemical composition of manures, natural or artificial, with experiments designed to test their comparative effects on crops of different kinds; the adaptation and value of grasses and forage plants; the composition and digestibility of the different kinds of food for domestic animals; the scientific and economic questions involved in the production of butter and cheese; and such other re-searches or experiments bearing directly on the agricultural industry of the United States as may in each case be deemed advisable, having due regard to the varying conditions and needs of the respective states or territories.'' The stations were authorized to publish annual reports and also bulletins of progress for free distribution to farmers. The franking privilege was given to these publications. The office of experiment stations, in the Department of Agriculture, was established in 1888 to be the head office and clearing-house of these stations. Agricultural experiment stations are now in operation in all the states and territories, including Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico and the Philippines. Alabama, Hawaii, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York each maintain separate stations, supported wholly or in part by state funds; Louisiana has a station for sugar, and Missouri for fruit experiments. Excluding all branch stations, the total number of experiment stations in the United States is sixty, and of these fifty-five receive the national appropriation. The total income of the stations during 1904 was $1,508,820, of which $720,000 was received from the national government and the remainder was derived from societies, fees for analyses of fertilizers, sale of products, &c. The stations employed 795 persons in the work of administration and re-search; the chief classes being--directors, 71; chemists, 163; agriculturists, 47; agronomists, 41; besides numerous horticulturists, botanists, entomologists, physicists, bacteriologists, dairymen, weather observers and irrigation experts. The stations publish annual reports and bulletins, besides a large number of ``press'' bulletins, which are reproduced in the agricultural and county papers. They act as bureaus of information on all farm questions, and carry on an extensive correspondence covering all conceivable questions. Their mailing lists aggregate half a million names. In addition to the experiment stations there is in nearly every state an officer or a special board whose duty is to look after its agricultural interests. Eighteen states, one territory, Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands have a single official, usually called the Commissioner of Agriculture. Twenty-six states, one territory and Hawaii, have Boards of Agriculture. Information concerning the Agricultural Department of the United States will be found under AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF.

See the articles on the various sorts of crops; also CATTLE, HORSE, PIG, SHEEP, &c.; DAIRY AND DAIRY-FARMING, HORTICULTURE, FRUIT AND FLOWER-FARMING, POULTRY AND POULTRY FARMING; SOIL, GRASS AND GRASSLAND, MANURE, DRAINAGE OF LAND, IRRIGATION, SOWING, REAPING, HAY AND HAY MAKING, PLOUGH, HARROW, THRESHING.

LITERATURE.---Besides the contemporary works cited in the text, see the article ``Agricultural'' in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), and the article ``Agriculture'' in J. A. Parral's Dictionnaire d'Agriculture (1885-1892); R. E. Prothero, Pioneers and Progress of English Farming (1888); sections on agriculture by W.J. Corbett, R. E. Prothero and W. E. Bear in Traill's Social England (1901-1904); J. E. T. Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices in England from 1259 to 1793 (7 vols., 1866-1902); W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce During The Early and Middle Ages (2 vols., 1905 and 1907); D. M`Donald, Agricultural Writers from Sir Walter of Henley to Arthur Young, 1200-1800 (London, 1908); H. Rider Haggard, Rural England, 2 vols. (1902); Encyclopedia of Agriculture, ed. by C. E. Green and D. Young (Edinburgh, 1907-1908); Cyclopaedia of American Agriculture, ed. by L. H. Bailey (New Yorkand London, 1907-1908); W. S. Harwood, The New Earth (New York, 1906); T. B. Collins, The New Agriculture (New York, 1906); Journals of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and other agricultural societies. Amongst general works on practical agriculture the following may be mentioned:--Stephens's Book of the Farm, 5 vols., revised by J. Macdonald (Edinburgh, 1908).; William Fream, Elements of Agriculture (London, 1905); Rural Science Series, ed. by L. H. Bailey (New York and London, 1895, &c.); Morton's Handbooks of the Farm (London); R. Wallace, Farm Livestock of Great Britain (Edinburgh, 1907); Youatt's Complete Grazier, rewritten by W. Fream (London, 1900); E. V. Wilcox, Farm Animals (New York, 1907). (W. Fr.; R. Tr.)

1 Translation by Clement-Mullet (Paris, 1864).

2 Walter of Henley mentions six bushels per acre as a satisfactory crop.

3 This process of enclosure must be distinguished from that of enclosing the arable common fields which, though advocated by Fitzherbert in a passage quoted below, proceeded slowly until the 18th century.

4 During the 16th century wheat had risen in price, and between 1606 and 1618 never fell below 30s. a quarter. At the same time wages remained low.

5 Chalmers' Caledonia, vol. ii. p. 732.

6 The higher yield of wheat in the later years of the 19th century appears to be largely attributable to better grain-growing seasons. The yields in the experimental wheat-field at Rothamsted--where there is no change either of land or of treatment--indicate this. The following figures show the average yields per acre of the selected plots at Rothamsted over six 8-yearly periods from 1852 to 1899, and afford evidence that the higher yield of later years is due to the seasons:--

Bushels (of 60lb)
Averages of--- per acre.
8 years 1852-1859 . . . . . . . . 28 3/8
8 years 1860-1867 . . . . . . . . 28 7/8
8 years 1868-1875 . . . . . . . . 27 1/8
8 years 1876-1883 . . . . . . . . 25 1/4
8 years 1884-1891 . . . . . . . . 29 7/8
8 years 1892-1899 . . . . . . . . 30
------------------ --------
32 years 1852-1883 . . . . . . . . 27 3/8
16 years 1884-1899 . . . . . . . . 30
------------------ --------
48 years 1852-1899 . . . . . . . . 28 1/4

The average of the first thirty-two years was thus 27 3/8 bushels per acre, of the last sixteen years 30 bushels, and of the whole forty-eight years 28 1/4 bushels.

7 See J.B. Lawes and J.H. Gilbert, Rothamsted Memoirs on Agricultural Chemistry and Physiology, 7 vols. (1893-1899); A. D. Hall, Books of the Rothamsted Experiments (1905).

8 including Channel islands and Isle of Man.

9 In 1903 two of the principal sources of supply of mutton shipped in excess of their exportable surplus, for which they suffered severely in 1904--hence the somewhat irregular movements after 1903.

10 Returns for only ten months were available for this year.

11 In the absence of experiments it is assumed that wheat is digested like other foods of the same class.

12 This sum was furnished out of a total of L. 693,851, forming the residue grant allocated for the purposes of education to the various county councils of England and Wales under the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act 1890.

13 ``Unimproved'' land includes land which has never been ploughed, mown or cropped and also land once cultivated but now overgrown with trees or shrubs.

14Includes farms operated by owners, part-owners and tenants, and managers.

15Tenants of farms rented for a share of the products.

16 The demand for horses for the British troops in South Africa affected these years.

17 Decrease due to a severe frost in the winter of 1898-1899, which destroyed the peach crop in most of the states

AGRICULTURE, BOARD OF. The Board of Agriculture andFisheries, in England, owes its foundation to the establishment of a veterinary department of the privy council in 1865, when the Country was ravaged by cattle plague. An order in council abolished the name ``veterinary department'' in 1883 and substituted that of ``agricultural department,'' but no alteration was effected in the work of the department, so far as it related to animals. In 1889 the Board of Agriculture (for Great Britain) was formed under an act of parliament of that year, and the immediate control of the agricultural department was transferred from the clerk of the privy council to the secretary of the Board of Agriculture, where it remains.

A minister of agriculture had for years been asked for in the interests of the agricultural community, and the functions of this Office are discharged by the president of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, whose appointment is a political one, and may or may not carry with it a seat in the cabinet. The board consists of the lord president of the council, the five principal secretaries of state, the first lord of the treasury, the chancellor of the exchequer, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster and the secretary for Scotland. The establishment consists of a president, secretary, assistant secretaries, &c. The salary of the president is L. 2000 a year, and that of the secretary L. 1500 a year.

The Board of Agriculture on its establishment took over from the privy council the responsibilities of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, besides the comprehensive duties of the Land Commission. The board, through its intelligence division, collects and prepares statistics relating to agriculture and forestry, and in 1904 appointed a number of honorary agricultural correspondents throughout the country for the purpose of bringing to the notice of the board any special circumstances affecting the practice of agriculture, horticulture and forestry, or the transport of farm, garden and forrest produce in their districts. The land division of the board prepares the annual agricultural and produce returns, and the three divisions, the animals, intelligence and land, take proceedings under the following acts:--the Diseases of Animals Acts, the Markets and Fairs (Weighing of Cattle) Acts, the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts 1875 to 1800, the Merchandise Marks Acts 1887 to 1905, the Fertilizers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1893, the Tithe Acts 1836 to 1891, the Copyhold Act 1894, the Inclosure Acts 1845 to 1899, the Agricultural Holdings Acts 1883 to 1900, the Drainage and Improvement of Land Acts, the Universities and College Estates Acts 1858 to 1898, the Glebe Lands Act 1888, &c. The board also has charge of the inspection of schools (not being public elementary schools) in which technical instruction is given in agriculture or forestry, and institutes such experimental investigations as may be deemed conducive to the progress of agriculture and forestry.

The Ordnance Survey of the United Kingdom is under the control of the board, as well as the arrangements for the advertisement and sale of the publications of the Geological Survey. In 1903 the powers and duties formerly vested in the commissioners of the Office of Works, relating to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, were transferred to the board. The various departments of the board are (1) chief clerk's branch and indoor branch of animals division; (2) outdoor branch of the animals division; (3) veterinary department; (4) fisheries branch; (5) intelligence department; (6) educational branch; (7) accounts branch; (8) inclosure and common branch; (9) copyhold and tithe branch; (10) statistical branch; (11) law branch; (12) survey, land improvement and land drainage branch.

In 1903, in pursuance of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries