Page:A History of the Pacific Northwest.djvu/289

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.


1910 she had 30,803. All farm property in 1900 was valued at $67,271,202 and in 1910 at $305.327»185. The average farm in that state was valued in 1900 at $3,850, in 1910 at $9,911.

Here we have, therefore, for the whole region an increase in ten years of 46,187 farms, and an increase of $1,087,031,342 in agricultural wealth. The new farms created during the decade would represent an addition to the farm population, on the basis of five to the farm, of about 231,000. The total increase of population in the three states during the decade was 1,046,938,^ from which it appears that about twentytwo per cent of the new population have found homes on farms.

Comparing the last census period with the decade 1880 to 1890, the first great era of railway construction during which population growth was exceptionally rapid, we obtain some interesting results. During that era the number of farms in Oregon increased from 16,217 to 25,530, or a gain of 9,323; in Washington, from 6,529 to 18,056, or 11,527; and in Idaho, from 1,885 to 6,603 or 4,718. This makes a combined gain of 25,568 farms, providing homes for 127,840 persons. Thus it appears that our growth during the last census period has exceeded that of 1880 to 1890 by approximately 20,600 farms representing a population of 103,000. When we consider that the Panama Canal was not opened to traf^c until nearly five years after the decade closed and that its benefits were therefore

1 Washington 623,887, Oregon 259,229, Idaho 163,822.