Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/107

VERMONT. The principal mineral wealth of Vermont is in its rocks, and particularly in the crystalline and other more or less metamorphosed limestones which lie in immense beds along the western base of the mountains, and which furnish a great variety of marble, from white to almost pure black. Granite, slate, and soapstone are also abundant, and the quartz-mica-schists near Lamoille furnish excellent whetstones. Important veins of asbestos are bedded in the serpentine rocks in the north central part of the State. Among metallic ores iron and copper are the most abundant, but lead, manganese, gold, and silver are also found in small quantities.

. Vast stone resources have long constituted an important source of wealth to the State. The marble quarries were the first to be extensively worked. The first quarry in the State was opened in 1785, and now Vermont produces two-thirds of the marble quarried in the United States. Proctor is noted for the largest marble quarry in the world. The marble of this section is said to be whiter and more durable than Carrara marble, which it is rapidly displacing for monumental purposes. More than half of the total product is now used for monuments. The production of marble in 1872 amounted to $2,275,000; the sales then fell until in 1896 they were only $1,101,000. However, they have since revived, and in 1901 amounted in value to $2,753,583. The quarrying of granite ranks next to that of marble in importance. The granite quarries have been developed chiefly since 1880 and the output doubled during the decade 1890-1900. All of the gray varieties of granite, but none of the red, are found, and much of it is of a very superior quality, almost half of the $1,245,828 worth quarried in 1901 being used for ornamental purposes. The largest granite quarries are at Barre. Large quantities of slate are mined in the western part of Rutland County. Some limestone is also mined. Altogether there were, in 1899, over 200 quarries in the State, giving employment to 8000 men and turning out a product valued at $4,600,000; in 1901 the output was valued at $4,700,000. Metal-mining has never been extensive, though small quantities of copper have for a long time been produced.

. In 1900 4,724,440 acres, or 80.8 per cent. of the area, were included in farms. The decade 1890-1900 was characterized by a large decrease in the improved land, but a much larger increase in the area of unimproved farm land. The average size of farms in 1900, 142.7 acres, was greater than in any other census year in the last half of the nineteenth century, and greater than for any other State east of the Mississippi River. Over 85 per cent. of the farms are operated by their owners. With the exception of the river valleys and lower hill lands of the State, the land is generally stony and comparatively sterile. Nevertheless, agriculture has always been the leading industry in the State. With the adoption of intensive methods of cultivation the soil is made to produce abundantly, the production of corn per acre being greater than that of any other State. But this is accomplished at great expense, and between 1880 and 1890 a number of farmers were forced to abandon their farms, under the competition of the fertile

lands of the West. Farming is more and more adjusting itself with reference to the development of the dairying industry. The State is naturally well adapted for this, and her dairy products are of a superior quality. The acreage of the hay crop is about four times that of all other crops combined. Oats, the most important cereal crop, is decreasing in acreage, while that of corn is increasing. Wheat and rye have declined steadily since 1850, and both have ceased to be important. Potatoes are an important crop, and some barley and buckwheat are raised. The production of maple sugar and syrup in Vermont still receives much attention, and the State annually produces more maple sugar than any other State in the Union, and two-fifths that of the entire country. The production of apples is another important industry, the apple trees in 1900 numbering 1,675,131.

The following table shows the acreage of the leading crops for the census years indicated:

. As above noted, cattle-raising has become the predominant industry in Vermont agriculture. The number of dairy cows has increased every decade since 1850. The production of milk in 1899—142,042,223 gallons—was 56.6 per cent. greater than in 1889. In 1899 dairy products were sold to the amount of $8,010,429, over half of which was received from sales of milk. In 1850 Vermont had over 1,000,000 head of sheep, but the number has steadily decreased. The horses of Vermont were among the first to win fame on the race-courses of the country, and include the Morgan, Messenger, and Black Hawk stocks. The following table shows the number of domestic animals on farms:

. In 1900 it was estimated that the woodland area included 3,900 square miles, or 43 per cent. of the total area. A large part of this, however, was second growth, or cut-over land. For many years the lumber industry has been important, considering the small area of the State. Since 1890 there has been a decline (see table below), owing to the practical exhaustion of the white pine. At the same time there was an increase in the value of planing-mill products. Burlington was in 1882 the third largest lumber market in the United States. The marketable timber at present consists mainly of spruce and hemlock. There is a thriving wood-pulp industry, centring largely at Bellows Falls, on the Connecticut River, where it is favored by water power and adjacent forests.

. Vermont is the least industrial of the New England States. There has been,