West Virginia: Its Farms and Forests, Mines and Oil-Wells

Chapter XII

 CHAPTER XII Statistics of Production. A STATEMENT OF THE FARM PRODUCTS of West Virginia2 will not indicate an extraordinary production in proportion to population, nor will it show so eager a result as most people in other States would have predicted. In view of the fact that a large element of the population has been that of the forerunner of civilization, the pioneer, who desires nothing more than elbow-room and a wide forest range for game, and is content to lead a primitive life, knowing few wants and those easily supplied, these figures prove incontestably a fertile soil. A Statement of the farm products, etc., of West Virginia, compiled from the census returns for 1860, by permission of Commissioner Kennedy. Acres of improved land ....................................................... 2,346,137 Acres of unimproved land .................................................... 8,550,257 Cash value of farms ......................................................... $87,525,087 2. The statement in this chapter, as well as those interspersed in descriptions of the several counties, is based upon the census returns of 1860. Returns made to the State Auditor , if they could be made complete, would show advancement in many of the counties even during a civil war.  west vrgna Value of farming implements and machinery ............................ $1,973,158 Horses .............................................................................. 85,862 Asses and mules ......................................................................1,674 Milch cows ......................................................................... 100,154 Working oxen ..................................................................... 18,696 Other cattle ........................................................................ 191,239 Sheep ............................................................................... 453,334 Swine ............................................................................... 327,214 Value of live stock .......................................................... $12,382,680 Wheat, bushels of ............................................................. 2,302,567 Rye, bushels of .................................................................... 71,263 Indian corn, bushels of ........................................................ 7,858,647 Oats, bushels of ................................................................ 1,649,090 Rice, pounds of ......................................................................1,163 Tobacco, pounds of .......................................................... 2,180,316 Ginned cotton, bales of, 400 pounds each .......................................... 125 Wool, pounds of .............................................................. 1,073,163 Peas and beans, bushels of ....................................................... 31,332 Irish potatoes, bushels of......................................................... 746,606 Sweet potatoes, bushels of ....................................................... 68,081 Barley, bushels of ................................................................. 60,368 Buckwheat, bushels of ............................................................ 342,518 Value of orchard products .................................................... $234,278 Wine, gallons of .....................................................................2,368 Value of produce of market gardens ............................................ $44,299 Butter, pounds of ............................................................. 4,760,779 Cheese, pounds of ................................................................ 131,585 Hay, tons of........................................................................ 154,136 Clover-seed, bushels of .............................................................7,230 Grass-seeds, bushels of .......................................................... 10,571 statstcs of producton  Hops, pounds of .....................................................................3,018 Hemp, dew-rotted, tons of ........................................................... 407 Hemp, water-rotted, tons of .......................................................1,020 Other prepared hemp ...............................................................1,599 Flax, pounds of.................................................................... 183,498 Flax-seed, bushels of.................................................................8,430 Silk cocoons, pounds of ............................................................... 69 Maple sugar, pounds of .......................................................... 667,178 Maple molasses, gallons of ........................................................ 71,425 Sorghum molasses, gallons of ................................................... 174,318 Beeswax, pounds of .............................................................. 30,459 Honey, pounds of ............................................................... 423,459 Value of home-made manufactures ......................................... $502,671 Value of animals slaughtered ............................................... $2,124,869 The value of live stock is twelve million three hundred and eightytwo thousand six hundred and eighty dollars, a sum exceeding the value of the same interest in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware , Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, and other States, and exceeded in Massachusetts by only three hundred and fifty-five thousand and sixty-four dollars. The value of slaughtered animals, two million one hundred and twenty-four thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine dollars, exceeds the income from the same source in Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana , Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Oregon. It is exceeded slightly in Maine (two million seven hundred and eighty thousand one hundred and seventy-nine dollars), Maryland (two million eight hundred and twenty-one thousand five hundred and ten dollars), Massachusetts (two million nine hundred and fifteen thousand and forty-five dollars ), and Vermont (two million five hundred and forty-nine thousand and one dollars).  west vrgna The product of butter exceeds that of eleven States, among them California, Kansas, the Carolinas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Maryland makes but four hundred and ninety-four thousand five hundred and sixteen pounds more. In flax, greater results are shown than in any of the States, with the exception of Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia proper, the last of which is far exceeded by West Virginia in proportion either to population or area. More of maple sugar is found than in a score of the States, and this product could be increased more than ten-fold. Sorghum is also a growing interest. The following is the order of precedence of the counties in the several items indicated: In farm implements, Hampshire, Barbour, Jefferson. In value of farm lands per acre, Jefferson, Brooke...