CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

P. 419 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES

PREPONDERANCE OF RURAL POPULATION—

AVERAGE SIZE AND PRICE OF FARMS—

PERCENT OF VALUE IN LANDS, BUILDINGS, ETC.—

NUMBER OF FARMS—EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

       Southern Illinois contains no very large cities, East St. Louis is the largest, with a population of 58,547. Belleville in the same county, St. Clair, ranks second with a population of 21,122. The third city is Cairo with 14,548 souls. Manufacturing is carried on quite extensively in these three cities. In the first the chief manufacturing interests are pork packing and beef dressing. In the second the interest is chiefly foundry work, and farm and other machinery; while in Cairo the manufacturing activities are mostly in the field of furniture and kindred products. Outside of these three large cities there is nothing extensively carried on in manufacturing. However there are some worthy enterprises in other towns which will be spoken of in another place.

PREPONDERANCE OF RURAL POPULATION

       Out of a total population of Southern Illinois of 804,877, according to the census of 1910, 31.9 per cent are living in cities of more than 2,500, while 68.1 per cent are in towns, villages, or in rural communities. Out of a total population for the state of 5,638,591, 61.7 per cent live in cities of 2,500 and over, while 38.3 per cent live in towns, villages or in rural communities. This comparison is interesting in that it shows that twice as many people in every 100 live in rural communities in Southern Illinois as live in rural communities in the state as a whole.

       When we remember that Southern Illinois soil is poor compared with the black soil of Central and Northern Illinois, we are at a loss to know how to account for the fact that in Egypt more than twice as many people are found in rural communities as are found in cities above 2,500. At the same time two-thirds of all the people of the state live in cities above 2,500 population.

       One explanation of the larger per cent of rural population over urban population in Southern Illinois is the character of the soil and the lack of any great demand for manufactories in the cities of this region. In making the early settlements the new comers occupied farms of small areas. Many of these were cleared of heavy growths of timber before they were of any value as farm lands. To show the comparative sizes of farms in Southern and Central Illinois we have the following. P 420

 AVERAGE SIZE AND PRICE OF FARMS

       Average size of farms in 34 Southern Illinois counties, census of 1910, of improved lands, is 82 acres. Average size of farms of same character in northern and central counties is 133 acres. The average for the entire state is 111 acres. The smallest average for farms in any county is in Pulaski county, 56.8 acres. The largest average is in Piatt county, 177 acres. Thus it is readily seen that the Egyptians are small farmers. Not only so but their lands are the cheapest in price and the poorest in quality. The average price per acre for farm lands for the state is $95.02. The average price per acre for the 34 southern counties is $38.59. The highest average priced farm lands in any county is, for Cook county, $183. For Champaign county $177.

PER CENT OF VALUE IN LANDS, BUILDINGS, ETC.

       Something of the character of farm buildings, farm machinery, and domestic animals may he seen in the following comparisons:
 
Per cent of value in all farm property in (state):
Lands     79.1
Buildings  11.1
Implements and machinery 1.9
Domestic animals 7.9
   
Per cent of value in all farm property in (Lake county)  100
Lands  65.6
Buildings    22.4
Implements 2.7
Domestic animals 9.3

Total

 100
Per cent for Southern Illinois:
Lands 72.54
Buildings  13.50
Implements 2.37
Domestic animals  11.48
  99.89
 
Highest per cent in lands in Southern Illinois is Wabash county 78.1
Highest per cent in farm buildings is in Hardin county 20
The highest per cent invested in farm machinery is in Pulaski county, This, by the way, is the highest in the state. 3.4
The highest per cent invested in domestic animals in Southern Illinois is in Hardin county, 22.3
   
   
                                                                                              

       From these and other statistics we see that our lands are rated at only one-third of the value of lands in the central and northern part of the state, but that the people have put more money into their buildings, implements, and stock, in comparison with the value of their lands, than the people to the north of them have done. P 421

NUMBER OF FARMS

       In the entire state there has been a falling off in the number of farms from 1900 to 1910. In 1900 there were 158,503 farms in the  state; in 1910 there were 145,107, a decrease of 13,396 farms.
 
In the following nine counties there was an increase in the number of farms:

County

1900

1910
Edwards 956 1,052
Effingham 1,784 1,789
McHenry 1,549 1,592
Monroe 824 882
Pulaski  784 883
Richland 1,678 1,712
Union 1,357 1,440
Wayne 3,106 3,185
Woodford 985 991

        Seven of these counties are in Southern Illinois. That shows that there was an increase in the number of farms in 25 per cent of the counties of this section.

EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

       Much is being done to maintain the dignity of the calling of the agriculturist. We have already spoken of the establishing of a department of agriculture in the state normal at Carbondale. Experiment stations have also been established in several counties in Southern Illinois.

       The Farmers’ Institute has done much and is doing much to advance the cause of agriculture in Egypt. In most of the counties there are county organizations. The congressional district however is the unit of organization. County superintendents report to the superintendent of farmers' institutes. In these reports the county superintendents reveal the spirit and work of the rural communities. In March, 1910, Mr. Frank Hall, then Superintendent of Farmers’ Institutes, sent out a circular letter to county superintendents, as follows:

       “Dear Sir :—For the good of the cause, please give me for publication in our next report, and elsewhere if I so elect, an account, brief or otherwise, of the work in agriculture being done in the schools in your county. Let your report include the following:

       “1. In what manner and to what extent have you co-operated with the officers of the County Farmers’ Institute?

       “2. Was agriculture taught in your last summer’s county institute? If not, why not?

       “3. Will agriculture receive attention in your next summer’s county institute? If not, why not? (Questions 2 and 3 are intended to find out if lack of funds or lack of interest is the cause of no instruction in agriculture.)

       “4. Was corn-day observed in your school? Did you have a township or county corn-day following the day appointed by Supt. F. G. Blair for the exhibition and study of corn in the district schools?

       “5. What work in agriculture in addition to the foregoing is attempted in the schools in your county? In the grades? In the high schools?
       “6. What work in domestic science (or domestic art) is attempted in the schools of your county? In the grades? In the high schools?

       “Fraternally yours,

     “FRANK H. HALL,

       “Superintendent Farmers’ institutes.”
 

       To this letter many very satisfactory replies came, but evidently some county superintendents did not reply at all.

       It is certain from a survey of Southern Illinois that great progress has been made within recent years, and the good work goes on.

       The census report of 1910 shows that Southern Illinois is diversified in its products. ‘The principal crops for the state at large are: 1, corn; 2, oats; 3, wheat; 4, barley; 5, potatoes; 6, hay and forage, as follows: (a) Timothy, (b) timothy and clover, (c) clover, (d) alfalfa, (a) millet, (f) other cultivated grasses, (g) wild grasses, (h) grains cut green.

       Attention will be called to the particular crop for each county in the county sketches where there are marked instances in agricultural production.

 

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