A Graphic Summary Of American Agriculture

Excerpt from A Graphic Summary of American Agriculture: Based Largely on the Census of 1920 Nevertheless, the agricultural production of the Uni longer keeping pace with our increasing population. The peak of production per capita of the total population was reached about 1906 or 1907, and although the decrease in per capita production since has been very slow and is yet very small, it is clearly apparent. This failure of agricultural production to increase as rapidly as popula tion is not due primarily to the decrease in the proportion of our population engaged in agriculture from over 13 per cent in 1910 to about. 10 per cent in 1920, according to the census returns 1, for the acreage of crops per person engaged in agriculture was, apparently, 25 per cent greater in 1920 than in 1910; but, instead, is owing mostly to a notable decrease in the rate of expansion of our arable area. Improved land increased only 5 per cent from 1910 to 1920, as com pared with 15 to 50 per cent in previous decades, and this 5 per cent increase was practically confined to the precariously productive semi-arid lands of the Great Plains region. The land in the United States suitable for agricultural use without irrigation, drainage, or heavy fertilization is nearly all occupied. Consequently, one of the great questions before the American people is how to maintain the supply of foods and fibers for the increasing population at that high level to which we are accustomed, -should we cultivate the pres ent area of arable land more intensively, or, like England, depend upon imports from foreign countries, or should the Nation embark upon extensive projects of reclamation? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The decade since the World War has been in many ways the most extraordinary period in American agriculture. For the first time in the Nation's history, the census of 1925 showed a decrease (since 1920) in crop acreage, in farm animals, in number of farms, and in farm population. Nevertheless, agricultural production increased more rapidly from 1922 to 1926, inclusive, than in any period since 1900, and probably since 1890, when the agricultural occupation of the prairies approached completion.