Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/497

KENTUCKY. than one-half of the total production. The most productive counties are Hopkins, Whitley, Muhlenburg, Ohio, Laurel, Union, Knox, Carter, and Bell. The total output in 1901 was 5,469,986 short tons, valued at $5,213,076, a small quantity being cannel coal and the remainder of bituminous grade. Iron ores are found with the coal, but they are not exploited to any extent. Lead and fluorspar occur in western Kentucky, petroleum in the southeastern counties, while building-stones and clays are widespread.

. The soil of Kentucky is fertile and well adapted to general agriculture. In 1900 85.9 per cent. of the area was included in farms—a slight increase over the two preceding decades. The absolute area and the per cent. of improved farm land increased every decade between 1850 and 1900, amounting to 62.5 per cent. in the latter year. Incidental to the change in the industrial system brought about by the overthrow of slavery, there has been a breaking up of the large plantations. In the last decade of the last century the average size of farms decreased from 119.4 acres to 93.7 acres, the latter being considerably less than half the average size of farms in 1850. The farms operated by owners are 67.2 per cent. of the total number, which is a much greater percentage than is found in the States farther south, the difference being largely due to the insignificance of cotton-raising in Kentucky and the small number of negro farmers. Only 4.8 per cent. of the farms are operated by colored farmers, the acreage cultivated amounting only to 2 per cent. of the total farm area. Share tenants outnumber the cash tenants more than three and one-half times, and nearly doubled in number during the last decade of the last century.

The crop production of Kentucky has from the first been characterized by the great attention given to corn and tobacco. The area devoted to corn has always been nearly twice as great as the total for all other cereals. Wheat much more than regained in the last decade of the century what it had lost in the preceding decade, the increase in acreage being 59.2 per cent. from 1889 to 1899. From 1890 to 1900 oats and rye decreased over one-half. In 1880 and earlier barley was of some importance, but is now scarcely grown at all. Hay. including a number of varieties, is one of the leading crops. Tobacco is the great money crop of the State. The soil contains an abundance of potash and other chemical elements required by the tobacco-plant, which, together with the favorable temperature, makes this the foremost tobacco region of the United States. For a number of decades Kentucky's annual tobacco crop has ranged from one-third to one-half of the total for the United State's. The yield in 1900 was nearly three times that of 1860,

and in the last decade of the century it increased 41.6 per cent. The acreage in 1900 was nearly double that of North Carolina, the second State in rank, and the production was more than twice that of any other State. The per acre value of the crop in 1900 was $48.19. Kentucky is also widely known for the production of hemp. This is attributable to the fact that its production in the United States is mainly confined to Kentucky rather than to its absolute importance, the acreage, as will be seen from the table, being small. The greatest production was reported in the census of 1860. The yield returned in later censuses has only once exceeded a fourth that of 1860. Its production is greatest about Lexington and in the adjacent counties to the southward. A little cotton is grown in the extreme southwestem corner of the State. Sorghum-cane is grown in small quantities. Irish and sweet potatoes and watermelons yield large returns. Small fruits are extensively grown in Campbell and Jefferson counties. During the last decade of the century the orchard trees increased 71.7 per cent. Of the total number, 69.4 per cent., or 8,757,238, were apple, and 22.9 per cent. peach. The fertilizers used, as reported in the last census year, were nearly threefold more than those reported in the preceding year, but only averaged $4 to the farm.

The following table shows the relative importance of the leading crops for the years 1890 and 1900:

. The excellence of the pasturing facilities, the large production of corn, and the favorable climate have made stock-raising an important industry. Kentucky has developed a breed of road-horse which is probably the best-known and most highly valued of any American breed. Many of the fastest American horses were bred and trained in the world-renowned blue-grass region. No other part of the country has so many farms devoted to this branch of the industry. The number of horses has increased gradually since 1870, as has also that of the mules and asses. Similarly, dairy cows and other neat cattle have gained in every decade since 1870, though a change in the method of enumeration resulted in a seeming decrease in the former in the last decade. Swine were formerly of much greater absolute and relative importance than at present. The number returned by the census of 1850 has not since been equaled. There was a noteworthy decrease in the number of sheep during the last decade of the century. The following table, taken from the census of 1900, shows the relative importance of stock and the changes which have occurred during the last decade of the century:

. Although Kentucky has always been primarily an agricultural State,