When Union County was first settled the ground was covered with a heavy forest.
Gradually the settlers cleared the more level acres and began to till the soil.
Agriculture had not developed far until after the Illinois Central Railroad was
built.
The fact that Union County is situated just south of the only true
mountain range in Illinois, the spur crossing the state from the Ozark Mountains
and traceable to Kentucky, makes it more suitable for agriculture than counties
north of here. This range of hills of mountains protects it from the severest
part of the blizzards that visit every portion of the west each winter and gives
warmth to the soil that enables fruit, potatoes and garden vegetables to be
grown early in the year.
A few facts gathered from various scientific
sources will further describe and classify the soil and agricultural resources
of Union County. This county belongs to the southern or fruit and vegetable area
of Illinois. In 1930, forty-eight and six-tenths of its population lived on
farms. In 1930, seventy-seven and eight-tenths percent of the area of this
county was farm land with farms one hundred fourteen and five-tenth acres per
farm and one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two farms in county. In 1935 these
figures had changed to eighty and seven-tenths percent of the land area in farms
with one thousand nine hundred eighty-three farms averaging one hundred five
acres per farm.
The following table shows:
Total acres in County
357,920.
| 1934 acres | 1929 acres | 1924 acres | 1919 acres | |
| Total land in farms | 208,184 | 200,672 | 206,741 | 217,765 |
| Crop land total | 108,386 | 105,293 | 111,283 | |
| Crop land harvested | 82,610 | 68,374 | 84,384 | |
| Pasture land total | 52,895 | 44,321 | 43,948 | |
| Pasture land plowable | 17,141 | 20,826 | 26,320 | |
| Pasture land, woods | 18,165 | 16,390 | 10,171 | |
| Pasture land, other | 17,589 | 7,105 | 7,457 | |
| Woodland, not past'd | 28,850 | 28,896 | 28,954 | |
| Other land on farms | 10,053 | 22,162 | 22,556 |
Farming is the leading industry of the county in spite of the poor soil. In
grading the most productive soil, type No. 1 and the poorest type No. 10, Union
County soil grades, type No. 6, 16%; type No. 7, 4%; type No. 8, 20.77%; type
No. 10, 56.6%; and the type containing water and gravel pits 2.7%. A study of
the soil showed that 308,862 tons of limestone are needed to correct the
original acidity of this area. Limestone depletion was not calculated. Between
1923 and 1934, 58,071 tons were applied. In 1953, 250,791 tons were still
needed.
It is estimated that there are 122,880 acres or 47.6 % of the
soil which suffers from destructive erosion; 67,200 acres or 26.1% from serious
erosion; 10,240 acres or 4.0% from harmful erosion; 57,600 acres or 22.2% from
negligible erosion.
The term destructive erosion means that the land is
suited only to timber. This group includes the rough, broken hilly land with
slopes of such a nature that the land is not well adapted for cultivation or
pasture. These slopes would produce but little pasture and if the land were
cultivated would erode badly even with the best of care.
The term serious
erosion means that this type of land is suitable for special types of
agriculture. This group includes the rolling hilly land which is well adapted
for pasture, orchard and some vegetable crops but which has slopes too steep to
permit continued cultivation, except in some instances where terracing might
permit some cultivation.
The term harmful erosion includes the undulating
or rolling crop land which under conditions of average good farming is subject
to harmful sheet washing or gulleying, destroying the natural fertility of the
soil. Erosion in this group can be controlled well enough by special rotation or
terraces to permi; a more or less permanent type of agriculture.
The term
negligible erosion includes the land which is gently undulating or level which
does not erode under conditions of average good farming. Some types in this
group may show some erosion or continued cultivation with poor rotation.
The above facts show that only 26.4% of the land in Union County is suitable for
general farming in spite of the fact that in 1934, 80.7% of the land was used
for this purpose and in 1929 77.8 % of the area was farmland.
There are
no statistics available to show how much the land has depreciated since its
early settlement and cultivation but it is significant that an early historian
said that our earliest settlers looked over the land and decided that the soil
was so thin they would be able to stay only one or two seasons then move on to
more fertile soil. These settlers found, however, that by crop rotation the soil
was restored to its original fertility.
After the building of the
Illinois Central Railroad land agents and horticulturists experimented to find
the type of crop best suited to the type of soil in the county. It was soon
determined that strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries and apples, peaches
and pears were the best crops to raise. Vegetables such as beans, tomatoes,
peas, cucumbers, etc., were found suitable and melons, especially cantaloupes
were especially adapted. The horticulturists went further in their experiments
to learn which type of apple, peach, etc. afforded the best crop.
Statistics of 1870 show that there were then 75,832 acres of improved land;
83,606 acres of woodland and 5,300 acres of other land in the county. The total
value of farmland was $3,333,201 and of farm implements and machinery was
$183,457. The total amount of farm wages paid that year including value of board
was $133,472.
There were 1,986 farms in the county, 3 under three acres;
287 over 3 and under 10 acres; 494 over 10 and under 20 acres; 804 over 20 and
under 50 acres; 318 over 50 and under 100 acres; and 130 over 100 and under 500
acres.
The 1870 census shows that in Union County there were 7,778 acres
of improved land in Anna precinct; 9,938 in Casper; 11,731 in Dongola; 9,719 in
Rich; 7,466 in Ridge; 11,995 in Stokes and 5,170 in Union.
The values of
farms and farm implements in 1870 was $407,303 in Anna Precinct; $558,200 in
Casper Precinct; $723,460 in Dongola Precinct; $457,920 in Rich Precinct;
$408,928 in Ridge Precinct; $327,042 in Stokes Precinct, and $123,381 in Union
Precinct. From these figures it seems that Dongola Precinct had the most
valuable farms and Union the least.
Live stock was valued at $68,719 in
Anna Precinct; $80,015 in Casper Precinct; $92,004 in Dongola Precinct; $81,005
in Rich Precinct; $56,732 in Ridge Precinct; $84,063 in Stokes Precinct, and
$80,340 in Union Precinct.
The value on all productions in Union County
in 1870 was $116,425 in Anna Precinct; $215,080 in Casper Precinct; $158,618 in
Dongola Precinct; $223,911 in Rich Precinct; 133,040 in Ridge Precinct; $168,000
in Stokes Precinct; and $100,505 in Union Precinct. It is interesting to note
that while Rich Precinct was settled later than any other section of the county,
the value of its products surpassed all other parts of the county. It was during
the period of 1875 to 1910 that the Rich family accumulated the wealth that made
them at one time one of the wealthiest families in the county. Much lumber was
sold from this section of the county.
Of the 164,738 acres of farmland in
Union County in 1870, 75,832 acres was improved, 83,606 acres was woodland and
5,300 acres was unimproved. These figures do not include the land which still
belonged to the government.
The farms had a total cash value of
$3,383,201, with $183,457 worth of farm implements and machinery. Total farm
labor wages paid in 1870 was $133,472 including value of board.
There
were 1,986 farms, 3 under 3 acres; 237 over 3 and under 10; 494 over 10 and
under 20; 804 over 20 and under 50; 318 over 50 and under 100, and 130 over 100
and under 500 acres. The average size of farms was 100 acres.
In 1880 the
picture had changed a little. There were 1673 farms, 19 under 10 acres of which
12 were cultivated by the owner, two rented for a fixed money rental and five
used by share croppers. Of the 40 farms of over 10 acres and less than 40, 22
were cultivated by the owner, two by renters and 16 by share croppers. Of the
528 farms of over 20 acres and less than 50, 370 were cultivated by the owner,
23 by renters and 155 by share croppers. Of the 487 of over 50 acres and less
than 100 acres, 370 were cultivated by the owners, 12 by renters and 105 by
share croppers. Of the 586 farms over 100 acres and less than 500, 446 were
cultivated by the owners, seven by renters, and 113 by share croppers. Of the
eight farms of over 500 acres and less than 1000 acres, six were cultivated by
the owner and two by share croppers and of the five over 1000 acres, three were
cultivated by owners and two by share croppers.
By 1919 when all the land
had been settled the picture of farming changed somewhat. In 1919, 217,765 acres
were farmland; in 1924, 206,741 acres were farmland; in 1929, 200,672 acres were
farmland, and in 1934, 208,184 acres were farmland. In 1924, 111,283 acres of
the land was cropland, of which 84,384 was harvested leaving 26,899 acres idle.
In 1929 of the 105,283 acres of cropland, 68,374 was harvested leaving 36,919
acres idle, and in 1934, of the 108,386 acres of cropland, 82,610 acres were
harvested, leaving 26,776 acres idle. It has always been necessary to rotate
crops and leave part of the crop land idle each year to build up the fertility
of the soil.
43,948 acres of land was in pasture in 1924, 68,374 in 1929
and 82,610 in 1934. In 1924, 26,320 acres of the 43,948 was plowable, 10,171
acres was woodland and 7,457 acres was ordinary pastureland. That same year
there was 28,954 acres of woodland and 22,556 acres of other land not suitable
for pasture or cultivation.
In 1929, of the 68, 374 acres of pasture
land, 20,826 was plowable, 16,390 was woodland, and 7,105 acres, ordinary
pastureland and 22,162 acres of other land which was neither usable for pasture
nor cultivation.
In 1934 of the 52,895 acres of pastureland, 17,141 acres
were plowable, 10,141 were woodland and 17,589 acres ordinary pastureland. There
was also 28,850 acres of woodland and 18,053 of other land not suitable for
pasture nor cultivation.
Of the 208,184 acres of farms in Union County in
1930, 58.2% were cultivated by the owner, 3.5 % by a paid manager, 3.7% by a
renter and 34.6% by a share cropper. On 22% of the farms the renter or share
cropper was related to the owner. The average value of a Union County farm in
1930 was $5,063: $3,308 land value, $1,755 value of buildings and $1,000 value
of dwelling. These values are higher than those in the surrounding counties with
the exception of Jackson and Alexander counties.
In 1930, 35.1% of the
farmland in Union County was mortgaged. The average debt was $1,693 or about
one-fourth the value of the farm. The mortgages averaged $15 per acre. An
average interest rate of 6.9% was paid and an average of 75 cents per acre tax
was paid in 1929.
In 1930 there were 1,222 farmers owning automobiles,
286 owning motor trucks and 337 owning tractors.
In 1929, 14.2% of the
land in Union County produced corn, 4.8% produced winter wheat, 1.3% produced
spring grains, 12.3% produced hay, and 13.1% produced other crops. 29.6% of the
farmland was pastureland and 24.7% was idle, fallow or failed to produce. The
percentage of failure was higher than usual in 1929 because of weather
conditions.
The following table shows:
Ten-Year Average Crop
Yields (1924-1933) and Crop Yield Index
Corn, bushel, per acre 30.0
Oats, bushel, per acre 25.6
Winter Wheat, bushel, per acre 15.2
Spring
Wheat, bushel, per acre 15.0
Barley, bushel, per acre 29.0
Rye, bushel,
per acre 10.9
Soybeans, bushel, per acre 12.4
Tane hay, bushel, per acre
1.13
* Crop yield index 87.0%
The crop yield index means that Union
County produced 13% less than the average crop yield for the State of Illinois.
The following table shows: Percentage of Farms of Specified Types in Union
County in 1929:
General 41.4; Cash Grain 5.3; Crop Specialty 3.1; Fruit
12.3; Truck 11.0; Dairy 7.1; Animal Specialty 3.7; Poultry .7; Self-sufficing
11.5; part time 3.4; others .5.
Between the years 1924 and 1934 there was
an acreage of 25,160 acres of corn raised in Union County; 7,678 acres of winter
wheat; 2 acres of spring wheat; 15 acres of barley; 2400 acres of oats; 23,770
acres of tame hay; 454 acres of soybeans; 1,184 of alfalfa and 735 acres of
sweet clover seeded.
During the same period there was an average of
10,137 cattle on the farms of Union County; 4,969 milk cows; 15,715 hogs; 1,601
sheep and 6,173 mules. Livestock production in the County in 1929 were: gallons
of milk, 1,903,898 with 117,838 gallons sold, 2,258 gallons of cream sold, and
414,513 pounds of cream sold as butterfat. The total value of dairy products
sold was $213,188. Poultry products were 160,113 chickens raised and 76,028
sold; 482,399 dozens of eggs produced and 303,271 dozens of eggs sold. Chickens
and eggs produced were valued at $266,365, and $150,300 worth of them were sold.
32,859 baby chicks were bought from hatcheries in 1929. 7,274 pounds of wool and
7,860 pounds of honey were produced the same year.
Commodity prices in
1934 were: apples, per bushel, $1.33; barley, 66 1/2c per bushel; beef cattle,
$5.10 per 100 pounds; butterfat, 22 1/2c per pound; chickens, 11 1/2c per pound;
red clover seed, $8.57 per bushel; corn, 58c per bushel; eggs, 17.1c per dozen;
hay, $11.58 per ton; hogs, $4.38 per 100 pounds; horses, $86.30 per head; lambs,
$6.66 per 100 pounds; milk cows, $35,17 per head; oats, 39c per bushel;
potatoes, $1.00 per bushel; rye, 65c per bushel; sheep, $2.88 per 100 pounds;
soybeans, $1.00 per bushel; veal calves, $5.46 per 100 pounds; wheat, 85c per
bushel, and wool, 21c per pound.
The ten year crop yield average for
1924-1933 in Union County was 30 bushels of corn per acre; 25.6 bushels per
acre; 15.2 bushels of winter wheat per acre; 15 bushels of spring wheat per
acre; 29 bushels of barley per acre; 10.9 bushels of rye per acre; 12.4 bushels
of soybeans per acre, and 1.13 tons of hay peF acre.
The following
statistics compiled by the State Board of Agriculture show the following facts
to have been true in this county in 1880: 19,941 acres in the county produced
698,256 bushels of corn; 26,081 acres produced 287,999 bushels of wheat; 102
acres produced 643 bushels of spring wheat; 4,056 acres produced 51,927 bushels
of oats; 1,825 acres produced 1,214 tons of Timothy hay;. 4,046 acres produced
5,265 tons of clover hay; 3,800 acres produced 149,591 bushels of apples; 543
acres produced 48,690 bushels of peaches; 142 acres produced 3,904 bushels of
pears; 2,573 acres of other fruits and berries produced $56,040 worth of
products.
At that time there were 4,164 acres in the county in pasture,
31,865 acres in woodland and 3,216 acres uncultivated. There were 475 acres in
cities and towns.
In 1880 there were 661 fat sheep sold for $342; 182
killed by dogs and 9,643 pounds of wool sold. There were 1,899 cows in the
county and 42,169 pounds of butter were sold; 1100 gallons of cream and 5,125
gallons of milk were sold. 951 fat cattie were sold and 2,721 fat hogs sold.
2,187 hogs died of the cholera that year.
Fruit growing, while it
comprizes only 12.3% of the farming in the county is one of its leading
industries. Union County leads the state in the production of peaches saving
312,000 peach trees in 1938 compared to 307,000 in Marion and Jefferson counties
combined. Illinois ranks as one of the leading fruit states in the United
States.
The first shipment of peaches from this county to the northern
markets were so superior that they attracted great attention, both to the fruit
and to the section where they were produced. As a natural consequence, the hill
lands of Union County rapidly rose in public estimation and price. Men of
experience and men of inexperience came here and engaged in the raising of
fruit. Horticultural societies were formed, the mails brought newspapers and
agricultural periodicals, and the greatest interest was manifested in the new
enterprise. The small and poor seedling apples were quickly superceded by the
improved kinds and every department of fruit culture made rapid progress.
In 1858, the shipments of fruit to Chicago began to assume importance. The
earliest fruit grower on the Cobden range was George Snyder who came there in
1857. He purchased land one mile north of the Cobden station and planted apple,
pear and peach trees as soon as he had cleared away the forest. Allen
Bainbridge, who lived on Bell Hill was another prominent fruit grower from 1850
to 1860. E. N. Clark and G. H. Baker came in 1858 to establish fruit farms.
Benjamin Vancil started the first nursery for supplying trees of improved
variety and later James Bell, A. M. Lawner, J. A. Carpenter & Co. also had
nurseries.
In 1866 it became necessary to run special trains daily to
carry the fruit to Chicago from this section. About that time and later George
Snyder, J. J. Keith, Jacob Rendleman and H. C. Freeman were leading fruit
growers.
In 1860 the first strawberries were shipped to Chicago. By 1867
the strawberry crop demanded a fast train each day to get the berries to the
market early the next morning in Chicago. Leading strawberry growers in the
early day of the strawberry in Union County were Parker Earle, A. D. Finch, E.
Babcock, J. W. Fuller, S. D. Casper, Caleb Miller, D. H. Rendleman, J. G. Page,
S. Martin and F. A. Childs. Parker Earle later moved to Crystal Springs, Miss.,
where he established a vegetable area similar to that of Union County.
Parker Earle invented the first refrigeration for shipping berries. It consisted
of a large crate with a compartment for ice around the boxes of berries. By 1880
the refrigerator car had been developed. By 1883 cooling houses were built at
shipping points. The cooling house in Anna was built by P. Earle and Sons and
the one in Cobden by the Refrigerator and Shipping Company.
Early in the
history of fruit growing "The Cobden Fruit Grower's Association," also known as
"The People's Line" was organized to facilitate the cheap transportation and
delivery of fruit. Members of this organization were given the same rate for one
case or bushel of fruit that was charged for a carload. Parker Earle, Col.
Peebles, James Bell and a Mr. Spaulding organized this shipper's association
which was one of the first organized in the United States. The same organization
exists today (1940). It was a cooperative shipping association.
Tomatoes
were first raised in the county by David Gow at Cobden in 1858. Later Willis
Lamer, E. N. Clark, J. T. Whelpley, J. Metz, Green and Venerable, A. R.
Buckingham and A. H. Chapman became large tomato growers.
Horace Eastman
began the production of watermelons and cantaloupes in 1870. I. C. Piersol, E.
G. Robinson, J. A. Noyes, Asa Harmon and J. B. Miller became the leading melon
farmers at Anna and G. H. Baker at Cobden.
Rhubarb, asparagus, spinach
and sweet potatoes soon took their places as important products shipped from
Union County. Amos Poole, M. A. Benham, A. Buck and E. Leming and Co. began the
asparagus raising and A. Poole was the first rhubarb shipper.
Union
County is also a large producer of truck farming products, although only 11% of
our farmers are engaged in this type of farming.
Contributed 11 Sep 2017 by Norma Hass, extracted from History of Union County, by Lulu Leonard, published in 1941.
| Jackson | Williamson | |
| MO |
 |
Johnson |
| Alexander | Pulaski |
