History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia Part 11

LIVE STOCK.

_Values_.

The total value of the live stock _on farms_ only, June 1, 1900, was $1,621,639, or 14.7 per cent of $11,056,109, the reported value of all farm property. Of the live stock value, domestic animals, worth $1,556,935, const.i.tuted 96 per cent; poultry, worth $58,276, 3.6 per cent; and bees, worth $6,428, .4 per cent.

TABLE I.--_Reported value of live stock on farms with increase and decrease and per cent of increase and decrease, by decades, and average values per farm and acre._

--------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+---------- Census | Value. | Increase of | Per cent | Average | Average year. | | value. | of | value per | value | | | increase. | farm. | per Acre.

--------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+---------- 1900 | $1,621,639 00 | $349,629 00 | 27.5 | $832 46 | $5 17 1890 | 1,272,010 00 | 172,110 00 | 15.6 | 699 68 | 4 31 1880 | 1,099,900 00 |[#]68,411 00 | [#] 5.9 | 597 45 | 3 68 1870[##]| 1,168,311 00 |[#]14,044 00 | [#] 1.2 | 943 71 | 4 23 1860 | 1,182,355 00 | 244,763 00 | 26.1 | 979 58 | 3 99 1850 | 937,592 00 | - | - | 746 49 | 3.18 --------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+---------- [##: Values in gold.]

[#: Decrease.]

_Animals Sold and Slaughtered._

The census enumerators and special agents secured reports of the amounts received from the sale of live animals in 1899, and of the value of animals slaughtered on farms. With reference to reports of sales, they were instructed to deduct from the amount received from sales the amount paid for animals purchased.

TABLE II.--_Receipts from sales of live animals and value of animals slaughtered on farms, in 1899, with averages and number of farms reporting._

Farms reporting domestic animals 1,911 Amount of sales $392,852 00 Average amount of sales per farm 205 57 Value of animals slaughtered 109,618 00 Average value of animals slaughtered per farm 57 36

_Neat Cattle._

The total number of neat cattle in Loudoun County reported June 1, 1900, was 30,277, of which 29,432 or 97.2 per cent were on farms, and 845 or 2.8 per cent in barns and inclosures elsewhere.

Fauquier, with 34,098, led all counties in the number of neat cattle, Loudoun ranking second, with 30,277. In the number of dairy cows, Loudoun headed the list of Virginia counties with 8,563, or 665 more than its nearest compet.i.tor, Augusta county.

Of calves, Augusta reported 5,476; Rockingham, 5,416; Washington, 4,177, and _Loudoun_, 4,090.

TABLE III.--_Number of Heifers and Cows on Farms, June 1, 1900, with Percentages._

Heifers 1 and under 2 years 1,917 Dairy cows 2 years and over 7,882 Other cows 2 years and over 588 ------ Total 10,387 ====== Per cent: Heifers 18.5 Dairy cows 75.9 Other cows 5.6

_Dairy Products._

TABLE IV.--_Gallons of milk produced on farms in 1899, and gallons sold and estimated gallons consumed on the farm for specified purposes._

Produced 3,736,382 Sold 875,780 Utilized in the production of-- b.u.t.ter 2,198,542 Cream sold 181,566 Consumed on farms: Total 2,380,108 Per farm reporting milk 1,321 Uses not reported 480,494

The reported quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter produced on farms in 1899 was 628,155 pounds, an average of 349 pounds per farm reporting, and an increase of 12.4 per cent over the production in 1889. 330,785 pounds were sold during the year 1899.

The four counties of Virginia which produced the greatest quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter on farms were, in the order named, Bedford, 727,680 pounds; Rockingham, 658,063; Augusta, 633,360, and _Loudoun_, 628,155.

_Steers._

Of the 26,187 neat cattle 1 year old and over in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 14,597, or 55.7 per cent, were steers. Of this number a few only were working oxen, as the great majority were kept exclusively for beef.

_Horses, Mules, Etc._

The number of horses reported on Loudoun farms in 1900 comprised 797 colts under 1 year old; 1,048 horses 1 and under 2 years, and 7,722 horses 2 years and over. The numbers not on farms were, for the three cla.s.ses named, 22, 13, and 684, respectively. There was, therefore, a total for Loudoun County of 8,406 work horses, and 1,880 too young for work, making a grand total of 10,286 horses, of which 93 per cent were on farms and 7 per cent in barns and inclosures elsewhere.

Only two counties of Virginia, _i. e._, Augusta and Rockingham, reported more horses than Loudoun, and the last-named County led all in number of colts.

The total number of mules of all ages in the County in 1900 was 109.

_Sheep, Goats, and Swine._

There were reported in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 31,092 sheep, of which 15,319 were lambs under one year, 15,040 ewes one year and over, and 733 rams and wethers one year and over. All but 0.2 per cent of that number were on farms.

Loudoun headed the list of Virginia counties in number of lambs under one year and ranked second in number of ewes one year and over.

The total number of goats of all ages in Loudoun June 1, 1900, was 20.

The total number of swine of all ages June 1, 1900, was 17,351, of which 15,554, or 89.6 per cent, were on farms and 1,797, or 10.4 per cent, in barns and inclosures elsewhere.

_Domestic Wool._

Tazewell headed the list of Virginia counties in 1900 in both number and weight of fleeces shorn, and was followed by Loudoun with a total of 15,893 fleeces, weighing, unwashed, 87,410 pounds. Almost double this amount in pounds was sheared in the fall of 1879 and spring of 1880.

_Poultry and Bees._

The total value of all the poultry raised on Loudoun farms in 1899 was $114,313, an average value per farm of $58.68.

The number of chickens three months old and over, including guinea fowls, on farms in Loudoun County June 1, 1900, was 132,627; turkeys, 7,218; ducks, 2,171, and geese, 1,036.

The total value of all poultry on hand, including the value of all young chicks unreported, as well as that of the older fowls, was $58,276, an average of $29.92 per farm reporting.

Shenandoah was the banner county of Virginia in egg production, reporting 1,159,000 dozens; Rockingham ranked second, with 1,150,500 dozens, and _Loudoun_ third, with 771,780 dozens, the fourth highest compet.i.tor, Augusta county, lacking 60,580 dozens of this last number.

Of Virginia counties at the last census Loudoun ranked third in the number of chickens on farms, third in number of turkeys, third in value of poultry products in 1899, and second in value of poultry on hand June 1, 1900.

There were in the County June 1, 1900, 2,225 swarms of bees, valued at $6,428. They produced the same year 24,970 pounds of honey and 1,110 pounds of wax.

SOIL PRODUCTS.

The total and average values of Loudoun's farm products of 1899, with percentages, are set forth in the following table:

Value of products: Fed to live stock $1,018,434 00 Not fed to live stock 1,817,414 00 -------------- Total $2,835,848 00 Per cent not fed to value of farm property 16.4 Average value per farm: Fed to live stock $523 00 Not fed to live stock 933 00 --------- Total $1,456 00 Average value per acre: Products fed $3 24 Products not fed 5 79 Average value per acre of improved land: Products fed $4 04 Products not fed 7 22

_Corn and Wheat._