History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties

"History of Lincoln, Oneida, and Vilas Counties Wisconsin"

Compiled by George O.Jones, Norman S. McVean and Others. Printed in 1924 by H.C.Cooper. Jr. & Co., Minneapoli-Winona MN. ill. 787 pages. The first two hundred pages are history of the three counties, the remainder of the book is biographies.

CHAPTER VIII. AGRICULTURE IN LINCOLN COUNTY

   The progress made in agriculture and agricultural wealth in Lincoln County during a period of 30 years and up to recently is shown by the United States census reports for the years 1900, 1910 and 1920, from which a few figures are here given. It should be understood, of course, that with respect to most items the figures given for any particular year really apply to the previous year, the report of crops, dairy products, etc., in the 1920 census having reference to the year 1919.

   The 1900 census showed 924 farms in the county containing in all 98,933 acres. The report for 1910 showed a fair though not a great increase, as the number of farms given was 1,119 and the acreage 124,992. The next ten years showed a greater increase, as in 1920 there were 1,586 farms with a total area of 162,677 acres. The amount of improved land in farms in 1900 was 23,317 acres; in 1910 it was 33,549 acres, and in 1920 it was 45,907 acres, of which 51,266 acres were in woodland and 65,504 acres in other unimproved land.

   A more decisive indication of progress, however, may be found in the figures showing the increase in value. Thus, in 1900 the value of all farm property in the county was $1,724,431; in 1910 it was $4,318,866, and in 1920 it was $12,732,866, a great proportional increase in value per acre. These values were divided as follows: 1900-land $1,045,640; farm buildings, $331,670; implements and machin-ery, $91,810; live stock, $252,311. 1910- land $2,708,340; buildings ,$887,725; implements and machinery, $219,481; live stock $503,320; 1920-land, $7,277,135; buildings $2,998,065; implements and machinery, $825,662; live stock, $1,632,083. In 1900 there were 896 farms operated by owners and 22 by tenants; in 1910 1,070 by owners and 33 by tenants and in 1920, 1,491 by owners and 83 by tenants. A very few were operated by managers, there being 6 in 1900, 16 in 1910 and 12 in 1920.

   More figures are available for 1920 than for other years and the statistics given are interesting to the farmers. Those with respect to the sizes of farms were as follows: Under 3 acres, 2; from 3 to 9 acres, 29; from 10 to 19 acres, 28; from 20 to 49 acres, 281; from 50 to 99 acres, 655; from 100 to 174 acres, 440; from 175 to 259 acres, 104; from 260 to 499 acres, 38; from 500 to 999 acres 9. It is thus seen that the greatest number of farms were from 50 to 99 acres, therefore of quite moderate size, but the dairying interests represented therein, or their high degree of cultivation, made many of them quite valuable.

   With respect to domestic animals the total number of horses in 1920 was 3,655, mules 24, cattle, 17,738, dairy cattle, 17239, sheep 362, swine 4,770. The number of chickens was 46,597, other poultry 863 and the number of hives of bees . The animals represented the following values: horses $450,759; mules $3,915; cattle, $10,164,444; dairy cattle, $10,000,961; sheep, $37,907; swine, $75,710; poultry $42,559.

   Dairy products,-Milk produced (as reported), 3,959,782 gallons; milk sold, 2,056,281 gallons; cream sold, 42,897 gallons; butter fat sold, 404,817 pounds; butter made on farms, 141,589 pounds; butter sold, 59,527 pounds; cheese made on farms, 150 pounds; value of dairy products, $925,074; receipts from sale of dairy products, $925,074; receipts from sale of dairy products, $878,324; average produc-tion of milk per dairy cow, 426 gallons. The receipts from the sale of chickens and eggs were $48,225; value of honey and wax, $6,238; value of wool produced (as reported) $8,369.

   The value of the cereals raised in Lincoln County in 1919, was $2,081,257; other grains and seeds $338,409; hay and forage, $11,900; vegetables, $990,337; fruits, $10,073; all other crops, $4,957. The total number of acres devoted to cereals was 13,298 and the total crop harvested was 339,781 bushels. The cereals were divided as follows: Com, 232 acres, 8,371 bushels; wheat, 9,605 acres, 272,536 bushels; barley, 993 acres, 11,183 bushels; rye, 1,159 acres, 25,577 bushels; mixed crops, 1,123 acres, 18,457 bushels. Statistics for other edible grains and seeds showed for edible peas, 21 acres, 244 bushels; dry peas, 133 acres, 1,625 bushels; flaxseed, 8 acres, 48 bushels.

   The number of acres in hay and forage was 24,515, the amount produced, 48,910 tons. Of potatoes there were 2,361 acres, producing 265,876 bushels. To other vegetables but 48 acres were devoted. Thirty acres were in small fruits, while of orchard fruits there were 7,411 trees not of bearing age and 4,145 trees of bearing age, 3,318 bushels of fruit being harvested. Apples were the most common orchard fruit, the number of bushels harvested being 52,926. Of plums and prunes there were 58 bushels harvested and of cherries 18 bushels.

End of Chapter VIII

You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] Visitor --Thanks for Stopping By.

© Copyright: All files on this website are protected by the US Copyright Law, Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, they are not to be copied or altered in any way for commercial use. Individuals may copy the information for their personal use. WIGenWeb Oneida and Vilas County Coordinator Judy Groh.