sections of the state that are as favorably located for the production of fruit as this part and which will probably be utilized for these crops within a few years, as there are indications of an awakening along this line in several sections.

Adjacent to the large cities is found the highest agricultural development in the state, namely, market-gardening. The centers of population furnish the requisite markets, and the soil, being a light sandy loam, is the best adapted of any in the state to the growing of early vegetables. This district may be said to extend to and include Bristol county, in the eastern part of the state, where the soil is much heavier and the crops are not so perishable as in the immediate vicinity of the cities.

Fig. 34. Connecticut and Rhode Island, to show leading agricultural distribution. Connecticut.-A, tobacco; B, onions; C, D, E, fruit, chiefly apples and peaches. Rhode Island.-A. general farming; B, fruit; C, poultry; D, milk farms; E, market-gardening; G, early potatoes.

Onions are the staple crop of this section. On the island of Rhode Island large crops of potatoes for the early market are annually produced.

In the southeastern section the poultry industry is a very highly developed specialty, nearly every farm being stocked to its full capacity. Eggs are the principal product sought, the production of meat not being emphasized. The colony system, using small movable houses, is in general use.

The present agricultural development is near the towns, an enlargement of the areas devoted to vegetables both in the open and under glass. Farming under glass is developing very rapidly along the lines of vegetable-growing and floriculture. A ready market is always at hand for the best products of fruit-growing, an industry which holds much of promise for the future.

The general agricultural line that is attracting the most attention at present, and developing rapidly, is the production of hay and straw with the aid of chemical manures. The high prices paid for the crops make their production one which returns an excellent profit for the time and capital employed.

The large manufacturing interests of the state, which employ an ever-increasing proportion of the population, are causing the development of opportunities for the disposal of agricultural products equaled by few states and excelled by none.

The total land area of Rhode Island is 673,920 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census

Report (1900), 455,602 acres are in farms, 187,354 acres of which, or 41.1 per cent, are improved. There were then 5,498 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $26,989,189. The total value of the farm products was $6,333,864. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $2,281,817; dairy products, $1,923,707; hay and forage; $1,081,482; vegetables, $992,467.

The Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, established under the provisions of the Land Grant Act, is located at Kingston. The federal Experiment Station is a branch of it. There is a State Board of Agriculture with headquarters at Providence. This Board is composed of a representative from each agricultural society receiving an annual bounty from the state, one member of the State Grange, and three members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Secretary of State are ex-officio members of the board. This Board has charge of the legal and inspectional work concerning animal diseases and nurseries, and of the farmers' institute work. There is no state fair at the present time, the leading agricultural exhibit of the state being that of the Washington County Agricultural Society, which owns its grounds and holds an annual fair. The leading agricultural societies in the state are as follows: The State Grange, the Rhode Island Horticultural Society, Newport Horticultural Society, Florists' and Gardeners' Club, and Rhode Island Poultry Association.

CONNECTICUT. (By A. G. Gulley.) The variations of soil and climate in even this small state are very great, and, in connection with market demands, control the products of localities. The long cultivation of the tillable soil without replenishing the elements removed by crops has left much of it in poor condition; but recent methods are restoring much of it to its original value for farming operations.

Dairying is by far the most important farm industry. The great demand for both milk and butter, not only in the local home markets but in the large cities located just outside the borders of the state, requires a very great supply. The business is so well adapted to the rougher parts of Connecticut, that, when handled with modern methods and appliances, it proves a very profitable branch of agriculture.

Sheep husbandry, once very important, has for some years been much neglected, owing wholly to local conditions. There is at present much promise of improvement, with a probability that sheep-farming will occupy the position in Connecticut agriculture that it did forty years ago.

In farm crops, corn and potatoes rank very high, the former especially, as a supply of cattle food used by the dairymen, through the use of the silo. Tobacco is the leading money crop in Hartford county, in the center of the state, with soil peculiarly adapted to certain kinds, so that its acre value rivals that of any other part of the world. New Milford, in Litchfield county, in the northwestern part, has a similar soil and equal success.

Plate III.

A hamlet in the eastern farming country. Lawyersville, eastern New York

Market-gardening and seed-growing in several sections of the state have long been important sources of income. Certain towns, as Wethersfield, in Hartford county, and towns along the Sound in New Haven and Fairfield counties, have for years been noted as onion- and seed-growing localities.

Within recent years fruit-growing has received a wonderful impetus over the state. Apples have long been grown in all parts of Connecticut, but, with the decline of other farm industries, orchards were neglected and very few new ones planted, and the business reached a very low ebb. However, with the new interest taken in other branches of fruitgrowing, much more attention is being given to the apple crop, new orchards are being planted, and many of the old ones are having their condition and care much improved. Greater attention is also being given to growing better varieties.

In peach-growing, recent progress has been remarkable. In 1890 there was hardly a commercial orchard in the state, yet in 1905 the crop marketed exceeded half a million dollars in value. Thousands of trees are added each year and with every prospect of profitable results. Nearly all of the other tree-fruits and all small-fruits are now grown and marketed in extensive quantities.

No review of the agriculture of Connecticut would be complete without taking into consideration the handling of poultry. There is hardly a country town, or even a farm, that does not have some surplus products for sale. Within the state are many persons extensively engaged in the business. The adaptability of the work to so many of the population, and the unlimited demand close at hand for the

products, have brought the occupation into great. prominence.

The total land area of Connecticut is 3,100,800 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 2,312,083 acres are in farms, 1,064,525 acres of which, or 46 per cent, are improved land. There were then 26,948 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $113,305,580. The total value of the farm products was $28,276,948. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $10,247,634; hay and forage, $6,001,280; dairy products, $7,090,188; tobacco, $3,074,022.

The Connecticut Agricultural College is located at Storrs. The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station is a department of it. The well-equipped and efficient Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, an incorporated institution, and not connected with any educational institution, is located at New Haven. There is a State Board of Agriculture, organized in 1866, whose duty it is to advance the agricultural interests of the state. Farmers' institutes are conducted by the State Board of Agriculture, the Dairymen's Association and the Pomological Society, acting separately. County and local fairs are held by various societies in all parts of the state, under certain conditions receiving state aid. The leading agricultural organizations of the state are: The State Agricultural Society, State Pomological Society, State Dairymen's Association, Sheep Breeders' Association, The Grange, Forestry Association, Bee-keepers' Association, Creamery Association, Poultry Association. There are State Dairy, Cattle, Horse and Good Roads commissions.

of it fertile, others barren. Geologically it has about the same formation as sections of North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland. The more fertile sections are well adapted to potatoes, cucumbers, melons and general garden truck. Poultry-raising, both for eggs and market fowls, is largely practiced. The farming in that section is very intensive and the individual areas are small.

The southeastern part of the state is preeminently a dairy section and is given over largely to producing New York city's milk supply, although in some of the favored valleys horticulture reaches its highest development under the small-area system. The central and upper part of the Hudson river valley is largely given over to milk production, general farming and apple-growing.

The Champlain valley and the plateau north of the Adirondacks is devoted to the growing of potatoes, foods for dairy cattle, and general farming.

To the south of the Mohawk valley large quantities of hay are produced, general farming is conducted and dairying is the specialty. The dairying section makes a belt around the state, reaching from the Catskills through Delaware, Otsego, Ulster and Orange counties in the east, and westward practically across the southern