Farm
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Farm. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a tract of land devoted to raising stock and field crops. The United States census reports do not count gardens, truck patches under three acres, and uncultivated cattle ranges as farms. UNITED STATES FARM STATISTICS FOR 1900. Number of farms 5,739,657 Average size in acres 146.6 Total acreage of farms 841,201,546 Number of acres improved 414,793,191 Value of farm property $20,514,001,838 Average value of farms $3,574 Average value of farm land per acre $19.82 Value of farm implements $761,261,550 Value of farm products, 1900 $4,739,118,752 Number of men engaged in farming 8,771,181 Number work animals 20,099,826 Value of domestic animals $2,981,722,945 Value of poultry $85,794,996 Value of bees $10,186,513 Value of buffaloes, deer, ostriches, peafowls, etc $345,587 In the issue for January 1, 1910, the Orange Judd Farmer gave out the following estimates: Number of farms 6,703,000 Value of farm property $29,730,000,000 Farm produce, 1909 $9,545,000,000 The westward movement of farming in the United States may be understood by the statement that between 1850 and 1900 the center of the number of farms moved from ten miles west of Parkersburg, West Virginia , to a point in Wayne County, Illinois, 110 miles southeast of St. Louis. The center of farm values moved from near the same point to a point 39 miles northwest of Springfield, Illinois. The center of corn production moved from 86 miles southeast of Columbus, Ohio, to 54 miles southwest of Springfield, Illinois; the average center of wheat raising moved from 57 miles northeast of Columbus, Ohio, to 70 miles west of Des Moines , Iowa. The center of oat raising shifted from the same locality to a point 58 miles north of Burlington, Iowa. About one third of the farms in the United States are occupied by tenants who pay a cash rent or give the owner of the land a share of the produce. Rather more than one-third of our people live on farms. See Agriculture ; Cattle ; Horses; Sheep ; Chickens
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a tract or piece of land cultivated by a single person, whether owner or tenant; also a district farmed out for the collection of revenue; or the right or permission to sell certain articles subject to duties. Also a term formerly used in Cornish mining for the lord's fee, which is taken for liberty to work tin-bounds.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 tables counted 5,739,657 farms averaging 146.6 acres, worked by nearly 8.8 million men and 20 million horses and mules, with "rather more than one-third of our people" living on farms. The number of American farms peaked around 6.8 million in the 1930s and then collapsed as tractors replaced work animals and holdings were consolidated: today the USDA counts roughly 1.9 million farms averaging some 450 acres, and fewer than two people in a hundred are employed in agriculture. The westward drift Aiton traced by the shifting "center of corn production" continued, but the bigger story he could not see was depopulation — the farm population fell from about 32 million in 1910 to a few million now, while output per acre and per worker multiplied through hybrid seed, synthetic fertilizer and mechanization. Collier's 1921 definition, with its Cornish mining fee and revenue "farmed out," preserves older senses of the word that have since dropped almost entirely out of use.
Written for this edition, 2026.