Illinois, considerably less than the number in either of the neighboring states of Wisconsin or Michigan, though considerably more than in Indiana or Ohio.12 Less than one per cent of the tiles laid during this period were laid down in the southern division.

More important for the development of the land resources of Illinois than the addition of a few thousand acres of swamp lands is the conservation of the improved land by more careful utilization and by the use of fertilizers. This state has never ranked high in the use of commercial fertilizers for the purposes of restoring the lost elements of the soil. The highest rank which Illinois has ever reached among the states of the union in the amount expended for commercial fertilizers was twentieth place which she attained in 1880 and 1900; in 1910 she ranked twenty-fourth. The largest annual expenditure for this purpose recorded for the state was $830,660 spent in 1899. Practically all this was used on the market gardens in the counties near Chicago, one-fourth being expended in Cook county alone.

Although these facts would seem to indicate little interest in the question of conserving or increasing the fertility of the soil, the farmers of Illinois have been making rapid strides in this direction by another method. The men of the Illinois agricultural experiment station have worked out a permanent system of soil fertility which is being disseminated among the farmers of the state by means of the farmers' institutes and the county farm advisory bureaus.13 Emphasis is laid upon fertilization based upon a thorough knowledge of the soil, but scientific seed selection and careful methods of cultivation are also urged as necessary conditions to successful farming. 14

Probably in no respect have the changes of the last twentyfive years been so pronounced as in the value of farm property.

12" Reclaiming Swamp Lands," Wallace's Farmer, 41:1562.

13 Hopkins, "Illinois System of Permanent Fertility," ibid., 41:218.

14 See Hopkins, The Illinois System of Permanent Fertility. See also Hopkins, How Not to Treat Illinois Soils.

This has shown a practically uninterrupted growth from the first settlement of the state. In 1890 the farms of Illinois were worth almost $1,500,000,000, which was an increase of twentyfive per cent over the previous decade. By 1900 they had increased another third to over $2,000,000,000; but the greatest increase was that which occurred in the next decade, resulting in the practical doubling of the value of farm property and bringing the figures up to almost $4,000,000,000 in 1910. In this regard Illinois holds first rank among the states of the union, a position it has held since 1890.

The greatest increases in value during this period occurred in the central division, but the northern division shows the largest average value per farm. In this respect the southern division, as usual, makes a rather poor showing when compared with the other two. The census statistics for 1910 show a great concentration of farm values in the corn belt. A somewhat clearer picture of the changes here suggested may be secured by taking the average values per farm of the different species of farm property rather than the total values. These are presented in the following table:

The figures of average values per farm show very clearly that the land and buildings were by far the most important element in making for the great increase in values which were characteristic of farm property in general. By 1910 the land and buildings made up over nine-tenths of the total value. Beside this the value of the farm implements and machinery and of the livestock appear quite insignificant, although they too have made notable increases in value during this period.

If the value of the land and buildings be analyzed into its two component parts, it is further evident that the value of the land is much the more important of the two. The value of farm buildings was first reported separately in the census of 1900, when it was found that the value of the buildings was 14.2 per cent and that of the land was 85.8 per cent of their combined value. The next census showed a decline even in this small proportion contributed by the buildings. Almost half of the value of the farm buildings is to be found in the northern division, due in part to the higher standard for farmhouses in that region and in part to the larger number of farm buildings necessitated by the development of the dairy cattle industry.

The increase in land values was particularly marked in the central division and in the corn belt, while it was relatively unimportant in the southern division. Indeed, the farm land in three of the counties in the corn belt, McLean, Livingston, and Champaign, was worth as much as the farm land of the whole southern division. In the northern two-thirds of the state, the land and buildings make up the chief element in the investment of an Illinois farmer. The average value of an Illinois farm in 1910 was $15,505, but for the northern division it was $20,720 and only slightly less for an average farm in the central division. It is evident, therefore, that the average farmer in this state is considerable of a capitalist.

The tremendous increase in the value of farm property during the past two or three decades reflects in a striking manner the changes which have occurred during this period in Illinois agriculture. Not only has the yield been increased by means

of improved methods and farm machinery, but an even greater increase has taken place in the prices which these products commanded in the market place. By the beginning of the twentieth century the growth of the population in the United States had caught up with the supply of foodstuffs, and there was no longer an overproduction to depress prices. At the same time there was a general rise in the price level due to increased gold production and expansion of banking facilities. Both these factors have been immensely exaggerated since the outbreak of the European war.

This rise in the value of farm products has been reflected in the value of the farms, which has gone up correspondingly and in some cases even more rapidly as the future has been discounted. The enhanced value of the land marks a change too in agricultural practice, in that the operators, especially if recent purchasers or tenants, have been forced to utilize the land as intensively as possible. This has meant in general that they have been compelled to devote more attention to field crops and less to animal products, and within the category of field crops it has been necessary to shift from hay and pasture to cereal production. Thus the value of farm products in Illinois increased from an annual average of $185,891,872 for the five years 1895-1899 to $276,924,048 for the period 19101914, and the proportion made up of field crops grew from 69.8 per cent to 76.2 per cent for the same years.

15

This displacement of the animal products by the field crops was more marked in the northern and central divisions than it was in the southern. In general the broad lines of distinction between the different sections of the state were now being drawn: mixed farming in the northern division, grain farming in the central division, cattle raising and the production of horticultural and other special products for which it is particularly adapted in the southern division.

15 For table see appendix, p. 494.

IV. PRODUCTS OF THE FARM

HE real value of the farms to the people of Illinois is not

by the yield in agricultural products. Here is the test of the efficiency of the labor, the machinery, the science, and the effort which has been applied to the soil. Tried by this standard Illinois responds nobly. The aggregate value of all farm products in 1910 was $586,517,053, and by 1917 the value of the farm products and livestock was estimated by the Illinois department of agriculture at $956,593,062.1 Still more impressive are the statistics of amount, comprising as they do for the latter date 320,000,000 gallons of milk, 46,600,000 pounds, of butter, 4,000,000 pounds of wool, 100,000,000 dozen eggs, 30,600,000 fowls, 1,000,000 cattle, 3,745,000 swine, 580,000,000 bushels of cereals, 4,300,000 tons of hay and forage, 13,000,000 bushels of potatoes, 13,600,000 quarts of small fruits, 5,000,000 bushels of orchard fruits, and numerous other smaller items. Here is enough literally to subsist an army, even of modern proportions.

Farm products may be classified into the two large divisions of field crops and animal products, and the field crops may again be divided into the four main groups of cereals, hay and pasture, horticultural, and miscellaneous. Taken as a whole the average annual value of the field crops grew from $129,890,293 for the period 1895-1899 to $518,227,210 for 19151917. About half of these values were to be found in the northern division. Of the four groups of field crops the cereals were not only the most important throughout this

1 Statistical Report of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, December 1, 1917, p. 32. Allowance has been made by the writer for the understatement by the state board of equalization of certain items.