Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/699

WISCONSIN. Menominee ranges in the northern part of the State. From the early days of the settlement of the State lead has been mined in the southwestern counties. Increasing quantities of limestone are quarried, the value of the output in 1901 being $1,225,448. Granite and sandstone are also quarried. Bricks and tiles are manufactured from local clays, the value of these products in 1901 being $1,234,144.

In 1900 there were 19,862,727 acres, or 57 per cent. of the State's area, included in farms. Of this area 11,247,972 acres were improved. The average size of farms has remained almost constant since 1860, the average in 1900 being 117 acres. The farms are largest in the western part of the State. In 1900, 86.5 per cent. of the farms were owned by the persons who operated them. In the northern part of the State there is much forest and stump land; besides the rigorous climate makes that region less favorable to general agriculture than the southern part of the State. Corn is confined almost wholly to the southern part. Oats is the most common of the cereal crops, and increased its area over 45 per cent. in the decade 1890-1900. The area devoted to wheat in the census year 1900 was much less than that of 1880. Wisconsin is one of the foremost States in the production of the hardy cereals, barley, rye, and buckwheat. The principal barley area is in the east central part of the State. The State ranks high also in the production of potatoes and of dry peas. The production of tobacco is growing in importance. All temperate zone plants thrive abundantly. In Wood, Waushara, and other south central counties cranberries are cultivated. The number of fruit trees more than doubled in the decade 1890-1900. In the latter year there were 2,557,265 apple trees, or 86.1 per cent. of the total number of fruit trees.

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

The importance of stock-raising is implied in the large acreage of hay and forage, shown in the above table. In the following table it will be seen that stock-raising is characterized by the great relative importance of dairy cows and other cattle. The State has advanced to the front rank among the dairy States. There was an increase of 55.5 per cent. in the production of milk in the decade preceding 1900. In the census year 1900, $15,717,043 was received by the farmers from sales of milk and $4,508,775 from sales of butter. The industry has developed most in the southeastern counties. The raising of horses and swine is also rapidly assuming larger proportions, but sheep-raising has reached a standstill. The following table shows the number of domestic animals on farms:

Forests and Forest Products. Originally the State was densely forested, except in limited districts in the south. In the north the forests consist of conifers, in the south of hard woods. White pine is the most common of the conifers. Two-thirds of the cut consists of this species and Wisconsin has been the country's chief source for white pine. Hemlock and spruce rank next in importance. In 1900 the woodland, including stump land, was estimated at 31,750 square miles, or 58 per cent. of the State's area. The merchantable timber is mainly in the northern part of the State. But few States have equaled Wisconsin in the amount of lumber marketed. The industry first became prominent about 1870. Between 1880 and 1890 it increased the value of its product over four times, placing it second in rank in the latter year. (See table on p. 594.) Although there was a decrease in the decade 1890-1900, the State ranked first in the latter year. Since 1900 the large lumbermen have been leaving the State to renew their activity in other forest regions.

The State's wealth in iron, timber, and farm resources has been much to its advantage in its industrial development. The value of products was 45 per cent. greater in 1900 than in 1890, the value in 1900 being $360,818,942. The capital invested in that year was $330,568,779, and the wage-earners engaged in the industry numbered 142,076. or 69 per cent. of the total population. Much of the grain from the Northwest naturally crosses the State in transit eastward, and has thus enabled a large milling industry to develop in Wisconsin. The number of bushels of wheat consumed in the mills in the census year 1900 was nearly twice as great as the State's production of the grain. The foundry and machine shops of Milwaukee produce large quantities of gas and steam engines, and machinery for the equipment of lumber, flour, and paper mills, breweries, and mines. The raw materials are supplied mainly by the local iron and steel industry. This latter industry has the advantage of the rich iron ore resources of the State, but labors under the disadvantage of having to import its coal. One of the most rapidly growing industries is the factory production of butter, in which the State holds second rank. One of the most widely known industries is the manufacture of malt liquors, which centres in Milwaukee. In 1900 the State ranked fourth in value of malt liquors. Slaughtering and meatpacking are becoming important. There is a large and important group of industries which is largely dependent upon the State's forest resources. The most flourishing of these is the tanning, currying, and finishing of leather, the tan bark being secured from local sources. Almost equally flourishing is the manufacture of paper and wood pulp. The wood-pulp mills are located on the large streams which afford power for their operation. The quality of the water is unexcelled for paper-making purposes. The