tance in any division, but was second in the West North Central and Mountain divisions and third in the Pacific division. Oats ranked third among the several crops in the East North Central and Mountain divisions.

Hay and forage is an important crop in the North and West, but not in the South. In four divisions it was the leading crop. In New England 41.9 per cent of the total value of crops raised in 1909 consisted of the value of hay and forage; in the Mountain division the proportion was 40.5 per cent, in the Middle Atlantic 31.4 per cent, and in the Pacific division 26.5 per cent. In the two North Central divisions the value of hay and forage was relatively less important; in the East North Central division it ranked second among the crops, and third in the West North Central division.

Cotton is an important crop only in the three southern divisions; its value constituted nearly one-half (49.9 per cent) of the total value of crops in the West South Central division, about two-fifths (40.8 per cent) in the South Atlantic, and over one-third (37.1 per cent) in the East South Central. Tobacco was the crop third in importance in the East South Central division.

Vegetables (including potatoes and sweet potatoes and yams) contributed more than one-fifth (21.5 per cent) of the value of all crops in New England in 1909 and over one-sixth (17.4 per cent) of the value of crops in the Middle Atlantic states. In no other division was the value of vegetables as much as one-tenth of the value of all crops. Potatoes, considered alone, was the crop second in rank in New England (forest products of farms being excluded from consideration as scarcely constituting a crop in the usual sense), and vegetables, excluding potatoes and sweet potatoes and yams, ranked third in the three divisions along the Atlantic seaboard.

Fruits and nuts contributed more than one-fifth (21.4 per cent) of the total value of crops in the Pacific division and nearly one-tenth (9.6 per cent) of the value of crops in the Middle Atlantic division. The New England and the Mountain divisions are the only others where the value of fruits and nuts exceeded 5 per cent of the total value of crops in 1909. The Pacific division was the only one in which fruits and nuts were among the three leading crops.

Forest products, which are not ordinarily looked upon as a farm crop, contributed exactly one-eighth of the total value of crops in New England, and more than 5 per cent of the value of crops in the South Atlantic and East South Central divisions. Considerable amounts of these products were reported for every division, but only

in the three divisions mentioned did they contribute as much as 5 per cent of the total value of all crops in 1909.

The acreage of cereals taken as a group, of hay and forage, and of vegetables taken as a group, is widely though by no means evenly distributed through the country. Cotton and sugar cane are practically confined to the South and nearly all the tobacco is raised east of the Mississippi River. Among the minor crops peanuts and sweet potatoes and yams are almost entirely, and hemp is very largely, confined to the South; hops are practically restricted to two divisions, the Pacific and the Middle Atlantic; flaxseed is mainly confined to the West North Central division; while the other minor crops are in most cases largely concentrated in three or four divisions.

When judged by total value of crops raised, Illinois was the most important agricultural state both in 1909 and in 1899; the total value of all crops in that state in 1909 was $372,270,000 and in 1899, $214,833,000. There was only one other state, Iowa, where the total value of crops raised in 1909 exceeded $300,000,000. In 7 states, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, New York, and Indiana, the total value of crops was between $200,000,000 and $300,000,000. In 17 other states the value of crops in 1909 exceeded $100,000,000 each.

Among the 26 states having a value of crops in excess of $100,000,ooo each were all of the 12 states in the two North Central divisions; 2 of the 3 states in the Middle Atlantic; 4 of the 8 in the South Atlantic; all the 4 in the East South Central; 3 of the 4 in the West South Central; and 1 of the 3 in the Pacific, no state in the New England or in the Mountain division being included in the 26.

The absolute increase between 1899 and 1909 in the value of all crops produced exceeded $100,000,000 in seven states, namely: Illinois ($157,438,000), Georgia ($140,250,000), Texas ($131,169,000), North Dakota ($126,595,000), Iowa ($119,114,000), Nebraska ($103,656,000), and Kansas ($101,337,000); it exceeded $10,000,000 in each of the states of the Middle Atlantic, the East and West North Central, the East and West South Central, and the Pacific divisions, as well as in one state in the New England division (Maine) and in four in the Mountain division; the increase exceeded $1,000,000 in every state except Rhode Island.

The percentage of increase in the value of all crops between 1899 and 1909 was greatest in Idaho (270.7 per cent); Washington, with 235.4 per cent, was next, followed in order by North Dakota (234.3 per cent), Wyoming (219.4 per cent), Oklahoma (205 per cent),

and Colorado (200.4 per cent). Most of the states with very high percentages of increase had comparatively small aggregate crop values in 1899 and show absolute increases that are not exceptionally great. Georgia, North Dakota, and Nebraska are the only states where the increase in the value of all crops between 1899 and 1909 exceeded $100,000,000 and was also more than 100 per cent.

Of the states in the West every one except California shows an increase in the value of all crops of over 100 per cent; of the states in the South, four on the Atlantic coast (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina) and two in the Southwest (Oklahoma and Arkansas) more than doubled the value of their crops during the last decade; but of the states in the North only three, North and South Dakota and Nebraska, show an increase of more than 100 per cent in the value of their crops. No state in the New England, Middle Atlantic, or East North Central divisions shows an increase in the value of crops as great as that for the United States as a whole (83 per cent).

While there was no state reporting a decrease in the total value of crops in 1909 as compared with 1899, there were 18 states reporting a decrease in known crop acreage. It may be noted that 9 of the 13 original states are among those reporting losses in crop acreage. Of the Western states, California is the only one reporting a decrease and of the Southern states, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Maryland reported decreases, while of the Northern states a majority reported decreases in crop acreage, the four states on the western boundary of the West North Central division (North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas) being the only ones in the North to report a higher percentage of increase in crop acreage than the United States as a whole. During the decade there was an increase of over 1,000,000 acres in land devoted to crops in North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, Georgia, and Colorado. New Mexico reported the highest percentage of gain, 222.8, followed by North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Washington, and Idaho. In Iowa and in California the loss in acreage reported was over 1,500,000, and in New York and Pennsylvania. it exceeded 500,000. In California the increase in the acreage of fruit and nut crops doubtless in part if not wholly offset the decrease in crops for which acreage was reported. Besides these 4 states 14 others reported less land in crops for which acreage was reported in 1909 than in 1899. The relative decrease was greatest in California, followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

VII. THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Extent and Character, 18981

Although the frontier line disappeared during the decade 1870-1880, there yet remain millions of acres of public lands. Much of this land is not adapted to known agricultural methods, but there is reason to believe that as scientific agriculture progresses more and more of this land will be brought under cultivation. The extent and character of the public domain in 1898 were described in an official publication as follows:

There are within the limits of the United States, exclusive of Alaska and the new island possessions, nearly 573,995,000 acres of vacant Government land, besides 145,122,000 acres in Indian reservations, forest reserves, national parks, reservoir sites, and military reservations, or for some other reason reserved from settlement. The vast area of Alaska, which is very nearly all public land, together with lesser areas in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and other new dependencies, will bring up the total extent of the national domain, exclusive of reservations, to nearly 1,000,000,000 acres. . .

Future additions to the reservations for permanent forests and reservoir sites will no doubt diminish the area open to settlers, but these additions are likely to be counterbalanced in whole or in part by the opening of Indian and military reservations to settlement. The 1,000,000 acres granted to each of the arid States by the so-called "Carey act" will still further reduce the amount of land to be obtained by settlers directly from the National Government, but doubtless without reducing the total amount of public land available for settle

At the present rate of disposal to individuals, the vacant lands in the United States proper would last for nearly a century. . . .

In the case of land grants in aid of railroad construction, lands within the limits of the grants are considered "unappropriated and unreserved" until selected by the grantee, though it is not certain that the usage of the various land offices is uniform in this respect. It follows from this mode of classification that to ascertain the amount of land still available for entry a deduction should be made from the amount given as "unappropriated and unreserved" to represent that portion of railroad grants not yet selected by the railroad companies. While no exact figures are available for this purpose, the General Land Office estimates the total amount of land granted to aid in

1 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture, 1898 (Washington, 1899), 325,

railroad construction at 156,893,468 acres, and as the amount patented up to July 1, 1898, was but 88,947,862 acres, the remainder is a little less than 68,000,000 acres. It is, however, very unlikely that patents will actually issue to the grantees for half that quantity of land, for some portions of the grants had been appropriated by settlers before the grants were made, and still larger areas are so mountainous and barren as to be scarcely worth selecting and patenting. A deduction of 25,000,000 acres from the area unappropriated and unreserved would probably be sufficient to cover future patents on account of railroad land grants. These grants consist of the alternate sections lying within wide strips of territory crossing the western part of the United States, and in some cases indemnity lands have been granted beyond the limits of the original grants. The Northern Pacific Railroad grant extends in a band 40 miles wide across Minnesota and 80 miles wide across North Dakota, Montana, the northern end of Idaho, and Washington; the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad grants are in a strip 40 miles wide extending from the Missouri River across Nebraska, southern Wyoming, northwestern Utah, Nevada, and California, to San Francisco, with branches in Colorado and Kansas and northward through California and Oregon; the Atlantic and Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroad grants extend from the Rio Grande in New Mexico across Arizona and California to San Jose, with a branch to the southeastern corner of California. There are also many smaller grants in the more easterly public-land States, besides several wagon-road grants in Oregon and elsewhere.

PUBLIC LANDS FIT FOR PRODUCTIVE USES

Far more important than the exact area of the public domain legally open to settlement is the question how much of this public land is actually fit for cultivation or for other productive uses. Having regard to present conditions, it must be admitted that all the best parts of the public domain have been appropriated, and that comparatively very little good agricultural land remains open to settlement; the mineral value of that which remains may be very great, but even of the mineral deposits it may be said that the most accessible and most easily worked among them have probably been appropriated. Looking into the future, the question becomes much more difficult, for no one can tell even approximately how much of the land now lying waste may be ultimately reclaimed to productive uses. The one thing needed, as far as concerns the greater part of the 573,995,000 acres of vacant public land in the United States proper, including nearly