1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Maryland
MARYLAND (see 17.827). The pop. in 1920 was 1,449,661, as compared with 1,295,346 in 1910, an increase of 11.9% as opposed to 9% in the previous decade. In 1920 the urban pop. of Maryland (that is, residents of towns of 2,500 inhabitants or more) was 869,422 while the rural pop. was 580,239, or 60% urban instead of 50.8% in 1910, the first year in which urban exceeded rural. A part of this increase of urban population may be accounted for by the annexation of portions of Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties to Baltimore city in 1918 (see Baltimore) by which the population of Baltimore received more than the normal increase for the decade.
The population of those cities in Maryland having more than 11,000 inhabitants and the percentage of increase for the decade was as follows:—
| 1920 | 1910 | Increase per cent. | |
| Baltimore | 733,826 | 558,485 | 31.4 |
| Cumberland | 29,837 | 21,839 | 36.6 |
| Hagerstown | 28,066 | 16,507 | 70.0 |
| Annapolis | 11,214 | 8,609 | 30.3 |
| Frederick | 11,066 | 10,411 | 6.3 |
The greatest percentage of increase over the preceding census in the case of any of these cities was the 70% (11,559 in number) of Hagerstown, an important railway and manufacturing centre of the Cumberland valley.
Agriculture.—In 1910, 48,923 farms occupied 5,057,140 ac. or 79.5% of the total land area of Maryland, of which acreage 3,354,767 or 66.3% were improved lands. The slow transition of the state from an agricultural to a manufacturing community is manifested in a comparison of these figures with those for 1920, in which year there were reported 47,908 farms, taking up 4,757,999 ac. or 74.8% of the total land area, and showing 3,136,728 or 65.9% in improved lands. There were 1,015 or 2.1% fewer farms in 1920 than in 1910, a decrease of 5.9% in total acreage and 6.5% in the acreage of improved land. In the same period in which this decrease in acreage occurred (1910-20), the value of all farm property in the state rose from $286,167,028 to $463,638,120; of the average value of a farm from $5,849 to $9,678. The total farm value in 1920 comprised $386,596,850 in lands and buildings, $28,970,020 in implements and $48,071,250 in live stock. The average number of ac. per farm decreased from 103.4 in 1910 to 99.3 in 1920. The largest single group in the classification by acreage was that of farms having from 100 to 174 ac. each, which represented 23.3% of the whole number. The average value per ac. of all farm property in 1920 was $97.44 instead of $56.59 as in 1910, and of land alone was $54.62 instead of $32.32. Of the total number of farms, 41,699 were operated by white farmers and 6,209 by coloured farmers, a decrease in the first class of 2%, in the second class of 2.6%.
Of domestic animals on Maryland farms in 1920, the total value was $43,784,464; of poultry, $4,216,105. The number of horses, 141,341, was 5.5% smaller than in 1910, but the number of mules reported, 32,621, showed an increase of 45.8%. There were 283,377 cattle on the farms, an increase of 13.9%, and of these 188,537 were reported as dairy cows (including heifers one year old and over), an increase of 21,678 or 13%. The total farm value of Maryland dairy products in 1919, excluding products consumed on the farms, was $13,407,526 as against $5,480,900 in 1909, an increase of 144.6%. In spite of the decrease in improved lands in 1919 as compared with 1909, the crop acreage in the former year was 1,988,120 as opposed to 1,927,254 in the latter. The total value of all crops in 1909 was $40,330,688, a figure which under the increased production brought about by the World War rose to $122,368,000 in 1918 but fell to $109,811,164 in 1919. The leading products in value in 1909 were cereals (Indian corn and wheat), hay and forage, vegetables, fruits and nuts and tobacco. The corn acreage of Maryland fell from 647,012 in 1909 (value of crop $11,015,298) to 619,265 (value of crop $32,678,769) in 1919. In the same period the wheat acreage rose from 589,893 (value of crop $9,876,480) to 664,295 (value of crop $21,357,568). The acreage of hay and forage showed 662,939 in 1919 as against 398,892 in 1909, while tobacco with an acreage of 28,550 in 1919 as against 26,072 in 1909 showed an increase in value of 292.6% or the difference between $5,721,164 and $1,457,112. Oats, wheat and tobacco showed a decrease in their average yield per ac., while corn, hay and Irish potatoes showed an increase. The total vegetable acreage in 1919 was 165,106, of which 58,083 was in tomatoes; the value of the vegetable crop was $25,371,723. The total small fruit acreage fell from 16,595 in 1909 (14,292 in strawberries) to 8,360 (7,096 in strawberries) in 1919; a less noticeable decrease occurred in the orchard fruit crop.
Minerals and Manufactures.—The value of the products of all mines and quarries in Maryland in 1909 was $5,782,045, of which amount $4,483,137, or 77.5%, represented the value of the products of bituminous coal-fields; $1,075,726 the product of stone-quarries; the small remainder the product of iron-mines, clay-pits and various other relatively unimportant sources. The total operating expense of the mining industries in 1909 was only $775,888 less than the value of the whole product, but the excess of value over cost in the case of bituminous coal was $541,778. Granite, traprock, limestone and slate, in the order named, came after bituminous coal in value of their product. In 1910 there were mined in Maryland 4,658,147 long tons of bituminous coal, an output which declined steadily until it reached 3,690,667 long tons in 1914, when it began to increase, and in 1918 the output was 4,015,444 long tons, a slightly smaller tonnage than in the previous year. The value of the stone-quarries, excluding marble, in 1916 was $934,130 as opposed to $1,075,726 in
1909. The value of products manufactured from mines and quarries in 1916 was, for brick and tile $1,908,537, lime and cement $2,332,846. The pig-iron production of Maryland furnaces rose from 290,073 tons in 1900 to 501,452 in 1916, and fell from this point to 244,002 in 1919.
The total value of Maryland manufactures in 1909 was $315,669,150 and in 1914 $377,749,078, a sum which placed the state 14th in the Union in value of manufactured goods. Of the amount named $215,171,530 was the product of Baltimore plants alone. In the entire state there were in 1914 131,391 persons engaged in manufacturing industries, and $293,210,925 invested in capital. Baltimore ranked as sixth city in the number of establishments in operation. In the period 1909-14, the value of Maryland manufactures advanced 19.7%, and in general the figures indicate an increasing value in manufactured products, as contrasted with a less satisfactory progress in the yield of natural resources. In both 1909 and 1914 the value of the following six industries exceeded $10,000,000 each:—
| Products | 1914 | 1909 |
| Men's clothing | $39,048,000 | $36,921,000 |
| Copper, tin and sheet-iron producst | 25,491,000 | 16,909,000 |
| Canning and preserving | 18,029,000 | 13,709,000 |
| Lumber and timber products | 11,911,000 | 12,134,000 |
| Foundry and machine products | 10,659,000 | 11,978,000 |
| Slaughtering and meat-packing | 17,100,000 | 13,683,000 |
By 1914 there had been added to this list: cars and general shop construction and repairs, for steam railways, $13,229,000; fertilizers, $13,987,000; printing and publishing, $11,263,000. Since 1914 there has been a large increase in the number of manufacturing establishments and in capital invested in manufactures in Baltimore, so that the 57%, which in that year was the contribution of that city to the value of manufactures in the state, has been increased. Outside of Baltimore, the chief manufacturing centres are the western Maryland cities, Cumberland and Hagerstown.
Fisheries.—In 1908 the value of the Maryland fishery products had fallen from the second place which it occupied in 1897 to fifth place. Recognizing that the decreased output was due to the unregulated stripping of the natural oyster beds, the state by an Act of 1916 created a Conservation Commission charged with the execution of all laws relating to oysters, fish, crabs and game, supplanting the Shell Fish Commission, the two Fish Commissioners and the state Conservation Bureau, and assuming control and coördination of all existing agencies for the furtherance of the fishing industry and game protection of the state. The report of the Shell Fish Commission in 1907 laid down the general principles of oyster culture followed by the Conservation Commission in encouraging the planting and gathering of oysters, the most valuable products of the Maryland waters. The state had faced a steady decline in its oyster industry since the year 1897, when 7,255,000 bus. were taken from Maryland waters. In 1908 the catch had fallen to 6,232,000 bus., and in the season of 19167 to 4,120,819 bus. In the hard winter of 1917-8 an even lower mark was reached, but exceptional conditions account for the poor catch of that year. There is reason to believe that the encouragement given to planting and the enforcement of the “cull” law are beginning to have effect, for since the extremely small catch of 1917-8 there has been a steady increase until the highest figure for several years was attained in 1920-1 with a catch of 4,967,433 bus. (figures of April 15, before the close of the season). An ambitious planting programme has been outlined for all the fish products of the state by the Conservation Commission, in addition to its regular scheme by which many millions of fry are released into Maryland waters every year.
Communications.—Beginning with the passage of the “Shoemaker, or State Aid” Act in 1904, the state entered upon a programme of road construction, the prosecution of which has provided it with one of the best road systems of any state. In 1908 the State Roads Commission was created by the Legislature to construct all state roads and state-aid roads, and as the result of its activities there have been built of both classes 1,585 m. of macadam, concrete and other surfaced roads on the foundations of the once privately owned turnpikes and the connecting county roads.
Education and Religion.—The period of 1910-20 was a notable one in the development of the Johns Hopkins University, of Baltimore. In 1920 the Legislature passed an Act merging the university of Maryland (Baltimore) with its schools of law and medicine, and the Maryland State College of Agriculture (College Park, Md.) under the name of the university of Maryland and under the control of a Board of Regents. In secondary education, the future betterment of the school system throughout the state was provided for by the reorganization of the State Board of Education by legislative enactment of 1916. Industrial and vocational training in the schools have been the subjects of experimentation, but no definite policy has been established with regard to their continuance.
All denominations in Maryland reported 602,587 members in 1916, an increase of 99,870 since 1906. In 1916 the church membership was divided among 2,955 organizations, representing more than 60 denominations. The value of church property in the state was $29,162,381. The Roman Catholic church membership (all baptized
persons including infants) numbered 219,530. Following in the order named were the Methodist Episcopal (112,853), Protestant Episcopal (38,469), General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran (33,555), National Baptist Convention, coloured, (29,405), Presbyterian Church in the United States (19,603).
History.—A series of Acts passed since 1910 indicate a progressive quality in the administration of the state. These Acts created the Public Service Commission (1910), the State Industrial Accident Commission (1914), the Conservation Commission, (1916), the State Board of Prison Control (1916), the State Tax Commission (1914), the State Roads Commission (1908), and the reorganization of the State Board of Education (1916). In 1916 the budget system was adopted and in 1920 a merit system for state employees was put in operation. During the World War, Maryland furnished the following volunteer organizations: three regiments of infantry, one battalion of field artillery, one troop of cavalry, four companies of coast artillery, one field hospital, one ambulance company, two battalions of naval militia and one company of negro infantry. With the exception of the coast artillery companies and the coloured company these volunteer organizations became part of the 29th Div. and the infantry personnel, as the 115th Regt., saw active service on the American front in France. The 3rd Coast Artillery Company, and volunteers from the others, became the 117th Trench Mortar Battery, and as part of the Rainbow Div. was actively engaged at the front in France for many months. By the selective draft 34,000 men were sent from Maryland. Four great military establishments were located in Maryland during the war: the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the Edgewood Arsenal, Camp Meade and Camp Holabird. Because of their good locations and convenience to Washington, these establishments have been retained for military purposes by the War Department.
Maryland subscribed to the five Liberty and Victory loans $290,247,200, a sum which exceeded the total of its minimum apportionment by nearly $43,000,000, and was $13,000,000 larger than the total of its maximum apportionment. Maryland was the sixth state to ratify the Prohibition amendment but never ratified the Suffrage amendment. Recent governors have been Austin L. Crothers (Dem.), 1908-12; Phillips Lee Goldsborough (Rep.), 1912-6; Emerson C. Harrington (Dem.), 1916-20; Albert C. Ritchie (Dem.), 1920-. The latter was elected by only 165 votes over his Republican opponent, polling 112,240 votes to 112,075.
Bibliography.—U.S. Census Reports for 1910 and 1920; Maryland Geological Survey, vol. x. (1918); Statistical Abstract of the U.S. (1919); Maryland Manual, 1919-20; Synopsis of Laws Enacted by the State of Maryland (3 parts, 1916, 1918, 1920, compiled by Horace E. Flack, Dept. of Legislative Reference, Baltimore, Md.). Annual Reports of the Conservation Commission of Maryland, 1916-20; The Maryland Almanac for 1921.
(L. C. W.)