Census of Agriculture - the United States

CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE - THE UNITED STATES The first satisfactory census of agriculture in the United States was taken in 185o. Beginning with this date, the farm census, cov ering a gradually increasing number of items, has been taken in connection with each decennial census of population up to and including 1920. In 1925 was taken the first quinquennial, or inter decennial, census of agriculture. This census was considerably less extensive in scope than recent decennial censuses have been, and it is intended to maintain this relationship; that is, to take a complete census of agriculture in the decennial year and a census covering only the more important items in the middle of the decade.

In 185o, 1,449,073 farms were enumerated in continental United States; in npo, 6,361,502; in 192o, 6,448,343; in 1925, 6,371,64o, this census showing the first recorded decline. The census of agriculture, like the census of population, is based upon informa tion obtained by a large force of enumerators who visit all the families in the United States, covering most of the territory within one month from the census date. The information for the census of agriculture was obtained in 192o on a four-page standard sched ule containing rather more than 400 questions. In each locality, however, there were questions that did not apply; the farmer in Maine, for example, was not asked to report cotton or oranges; and the average number of questions actually answered by the individual farmer was probably not more than 5o.

The census differs from the various estimates of crop produc tion, live stock, etc., in that it is based upon a direct count of all the items represented, rather than upon a sample or upon cal culated probabilities. The returns are carefully checked against the records of the previous census and are subjected to other forms of critical examination, so that ordinarily there is little op portunity for serious error in the count. Nevertheless the task of obtaining and tabulating reports from nearly 6,5oo,000 farms is one of great magnitude on the mechanical side alone. To expedite the tabulation and to facilitate the classification, the information is taken off the schedules on punched cards, one card being used for each item or group of items. The whole number of cards punched from the schedules in 1920 was 147,o91,000, or about 23 cards per farm. Each of these cards went through the sorting and tabulating machines a number of times, the total amount of work of this nature amounting to the equivalent of 1,3oo,822,000 cards handled one time.

The information obtained in the 192o farm census may be grouped under seven headings: Information with Regard to the Farmer.—Theper sonal questions included sex, colour, age, country of birth, farm experience (that is, the number of years spent as farm labourer, farm tenant and farm owner) and number of years on present farm. The question on tenure may be considered as relating either to the farmer or to the farm, according to the point of view. The following tenures were distinguished: full owner; part owner; manager; cash tenant ; share-cash tenant; standing renter (South ern States only) ; share tenant; cropper (Southern States only). The per cent of tenant farms in 1925 was 38.6, as compared with 38.1 in 192o; these figures indicate an almost negligible increase when compared with the rapid increase from 25.6% in 188o to 38.1% in 192o. Considerable increases in the corn belt States just west of the Mississippi were offset by decreases in other parts of the country, mainly in a group of Eastern States centring in Ohio.

The classification of farmers by age and tenure shows that ten ancy is most common in the younger groups and thus gives sup port to the theory of the "agricultural ladder," according to which the normal course of farm experience is for a young man to start as a farm-hand, perhaps on his father's farm, and then to become successively a farm tenant, an owner subject to mortgage and finally an owner of an unencumbered farm. The replies to a ques tion on the 1925 schedule also indicate that a large proportion of the tenants outside the South rent their farms from close relatives, the proportion running as high as 4o% and even 5o% in some counties. The social significance of tenancy under these condi tions is, of course, radically different from what it would be if the relation between landlord and tenant were purely a business matter.

Farms and Farm Property.

In addition to the total acreage of land in farms, the decennial censuses have always given the acreage of improved land; and recent censuses have also given separate figures for woodland included in farms. The census of 1925 carried a more detailed classification of farm-land, separat ing in particular the different types of pasture-land and showing separately crop-land idle during the preceding year and crop failure, as well as the land from which crops were harvested. The total acreage of land in farms, which increased from 293,56°,614 in 185o to 955,883,715 in 192o, declined to 924,319,352 in 1925.

Great social significance attaches to the relation between the acreage of agricultural land and the population. The changes in this relation between 185o and 192o are shown in the following table : The improved acreage probably measures the extent of pro ductive farm-land more accurately than does the total acreage, which includes large areas of woodland and of land useful only for grazing. The number of acres of improved land per capita was only a little less in 1920 than in 185o, indicating that the growth of the agricultural area had about kept pace with the growth of the population.

The census of 1925 shows a slight decrease in the farm acreage, but since 1920 several new factors, including the extensive replace ment of farm work stock (which was a consumer of farm prod ucts) by motor equipment, have tended to keep farm production ahead of the growth in population and even to create a surplus. The value of farm property shown in the census reports includes not only the value of the farm real estate, with separate figures for the value of buildings, but also the value of implements and ma chinery and of live stock. The aggregate value, after increasing from $20,44o,000,000 in i9oo to $77,924,000,000 in 1920, declined to $57,018,000,000 in 1925, mainly by reason of a lower price level. Data as to mortgage debt are secured only for farms oper ated by their owners, and the figures for the amount of debt are shown only for what are termed full owners; that is, farmers who own all the land that they operate. The reports of the census of 192o show the rate of interest paid on the farm mortgage debt as well as the amount of debt on farms in different groups classified according to value.

Live Stock.

The live-stock inventory, as obtained at the various decennial censuses, has shown an increasing amount of detail in the classification. It has been found desirable not only to report separately the calves, lambs, colts, etc., as representing a new generation of live stock just coming into existence, but also to make other age classifications, separating, for example, horses and cattle between one and two years old from those two years old and over. Sex classifications are also required. Recent censuses have attempted to separate dairy cattle from beef cattle, though the results so far obtained have not been absolutely satisfactory, mainly because of the difficulty of classifying general-purpose cattle.

Crops.

Perhaps the simplest and most fundamental item in the farm census, after the number and acreage of farms, is the acreage of the more important crops harvested in the year pre ceding the date of the census enumeration. The census schedules call both for the number of acres harvested and for the quantity of the product. Previous to 1920 each farmer was asked to state also the value of his product. Beginning with 192o the average value per bushel or other unit of measure has been obtained inde pendently for most of the crops, and the value has been computed for the total production of each county.

The cotton crop receives special attention. Its acreage and pro duction are reported along with other crops in the returns of the decennial or quinquennial censuses. In addition reports of pro duction are secured every year from the ginners of cotton. These reports are received (and published) semi-monthly during the major part of the ginning season, and the total production of cotton, as reported by the ginners, is available to the public shortly after the harvest is completed. The cotton-ginning re ports probably represent the most accurate statistics of crop production that are available for any crop on a large scale any where in the world.

Live-stock Products.

The live-stock products reported in the census comprise wool and mohair, eggs and chickens and dairy products, including the total production of milk, the produc tion and sales of butter, and the sales of milk, cream and butter fat. Some difficulty is experienced in obtaining accurate reports from the farmers as to the total production of milk, except in cases where practically the whole amount is sold. The proposal that this question be omitted from the schedule by reason of this dif ficulty meets with instant objection, however, from thOse who use the statistics of the dairy industry. In connection with live-stock products, the census bureau makes practically the only estimates —as distinguished from enumerations—which appear in its de cennial reports. A considerable number of farmers report the number of sheep which they had on the census date but fail to report the wool production; other farmers likewise report chickens but no eggs, or dairy cows but no milk. For the farms failing to report production, estimates are made on the basis of the average production per unit as shown by the complete reports.

Miscellaneous Items.

Data for farmers' expenditures for feeding stuff, fertilizers and labour have been obtained as a part of the farm census for several decades. In 192o new items were introduced, including the number of tractors and automobiles on farms, the number of farm houses equipped with running water or with electric or gas lights, and the number of farms having tele phones. In 1925 the tractor item was continued, a question as to radio sets was asked, and a query was added as to the kind of road on which the farm was located.

(4) The Farm Population.

The farm population, as distinct from the total rural population, was reported for the first time in the population census of 19,2o. Farm population figures were also secured in the farm census of 1925. Under the definition employed in 192o, farm labourers not living on a farm but living in strictly rural territory, outside any incorporated place, were included with the farm population. In 1925 the enumeration was necessarily limited to those persons living on farms, since the canvass covered only the farms. Estimating and deducting from the 1920 totals the non-farm-resident farm labourers, it appears that the farm resident population of the United States decreased from about 31,000,000 in 192o to about 29,000,000 in 1925, or an average an nual decrease of 400,000. During the same years the total popu lation of the country was increasing at the rate of about 1,800,000 per year, so that while the farm population was decreasing at the rate indicated, the non-farm population was increasing at the rate of 2,200,000 per year.

The census statistics thus indicate the current trend, not only in such material elements as acres of land, bushels of wheat and thousands of cattle and hogs, but also in the more important ele ment consisting of the people who make their homes on the nearly 6,5oo,000 farms in the United States and depend for their livelihood mainly on the products of agriculture. (L. E. T.)