INGHAM COUNTY
SOME FACTS AND [FIGURES]
INGHAM COUNTY, with a total of 3,508 farms in an area of 553 square miles, is distinctly a farm county. More than 94 per cent. of the entire area of the county is in its farms, and more than 74 per cent. is under cultivation. The farms are, as a rule, of more than average size, less than 4 per cent. being under ten acres. They are almost without exception profitable and correspondingly valuable. The farmers, as a class, are the most prosperous folks in the county. In view of the number of farmers, that is in itself a statement of the wealth of this section.
The farm population of Ingham County is almost exclusively native born. There are 8 per cent. foreign in the entire county, according to the most recent United States Government statistics.
It is interesting to note the number of farms in the county operated by their owners. Of this class there are 2,736, or 78 per cent. One thou-sand five hundred and seventeen, or 55 per cent. of them are reported free of mortgage debt. This is an exceptionally large percentage. Of the
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INGHAM COUNTY
balance, the remarkably low mortgage indebtedness of only 31 per cent. of the entire valuation is carried. Even in the absence of other statis-tical figures, these mortgage statements alone would indicate exceptional prosperity among Ingham County farmers.
The largest single crop, and the one produced most generally throughout the entire county, is corn, of which 1,323,432 bushels were produced in 1910, a notably bad crop year, but the latest for which authoritative figures are available. Following closely on this for quantity is oats, with a total of 979,048 bushels; potatoes come next, with 357,638 bushels, and beans fourth, with 224,123 bushels. The combined total value of these four crops was in excess of two million dollars.
Everywhere is an atmosphere of hard work. Everyone takes work seriously and as a matter of course. There is no false pride about it, and no failure to realize its importance and its necessity. Rich farm-ers' wives and sons and daughters take pride in their fine butter, their eggs, their vegetables, their chickens and their stock. The relations be-tween the people of the farms and the people of the county seat are most cordial. The farmers deposit their savings in the local banks, and deal in the local stores.
This directory is published in the belief that it will serve to acquaint the residents of one end of the county with those of the other. We believe it to be accurate. We realize, however, that even in the most carefully compiled and printed books certain errors are bound to appear, and we apologize in advance for any such that may be found by our sub-scribers.
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