Page:Quarterlyoforego10oreg 1.djvu/192

 78 LoN L. Swift Table 14 shows that in 1900 the United States had 160 times as many farms as Oregon, 83 times the total area of farm land, a much larger per cent of which was improved than in Oregon, a higher average value per acre, and 119 times the total value of farm land. Oregon appears rather insignificant when com- pared to the United States ; but when compared to the West- ern Division it is seen to have had in 1900 greater agricultural wealth than the average of these eleven states. The average area of the farms in the Western Division was much larger than the average size farm in Oregon ; the per cent of improved farm land less ; the average value per acre slightly more. Ore- gon had approximately one-tenth of the total value of the farm land of the eleven states of the Western Division. If the total value of farm land is taken as the basis of compari- son, it may be said that the agricultural wealth of the United States was 1 19.15 times that of Oregon; the Western Divis- ion, 9.92; California, 4.6; Washington, 0.84. The next point considered is the principal sources of income of Oregon's farms. A study will be made of the nine largest classes of produce ; hay and grain, live stock, vegetables, fruits, dairy produce, sugar, flowers and plants, nursery products, and miscellaneous. Everything is included in the last class that is not in the other eight. The items selected for the eluci- dation of this subject are the total value of each class of prod- ucts in Oregon in 1900, and the number of farms, total acre- age, improved acreage, and total value of farm property, class- ified according to their principal source of income. Oregon derived its principal source of income in 1900 from live stock ; hay and grain ranked second ; miscellaneous third ; dairy produce fourth ; vegetables fifth ; fruits sixth ; nursery products seventh ; flowers and plants eighth ; sugar, ninth. These items maintained the same rank when classified accord- ing to the number of farms and the total acreage of farm land from which each item was derived as a principal source of income. The raising of hay and grain requires more improved and more valuable land than the raising of live stock, and a