No. 890.

MERCHANT VESSELS LAUNCHED AND OWNED-WORLD AND UNITED STATES:

1940 TO 1966

[Vessels of 100 gross tons and over. Beginning 1945, excludes sailing ships, nonpropelled craft, and all ships built of wood]

Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London, England; Register Book, Statistical Tables.

No. 891.

MERCHANT FLEETS OF THE WORLD, BY TYPE OF VESSEL AND COUNTRY
OF REGISTRATION: 1964

[Vessels of 1,000 gross tons and over. As of December 31. Specified countries have 100 or more ships]

Represents zero.

X Not applicable.

1 Includes ore carriers and ore/oil carriers.

2 Comprises Bermuda, Borneo, Cayman Island, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Kenya, Nassau, Port of Spain, and Singapore.

Includes countries with less than 100 merchant type ships of 1,000 gross tons and over.

Source: Dept. of Commerce. Maritime Administration; biennial report. A Statistical Analysis of the World's Merchant Fleets, December 1964.

Section 23

Agriculture-Farms, Land, and Finances

This section presents statistics concerning the basic structure of our agricultural economy. Included are data on farm population; number, acreage, value, and ownership of farms; land utilization, irrigation, drainage, and soil conservation; farm income, expenditures, and debt; and farmer cooperatives. The principal sources of these data are reports issued by the Bureau of the Census, which conducts a Census of Agriculture every 5 years and Censuses of Irrigation and of Drainage every 10 years; the annual Crop Report and Related Data, Federal Reclamation Projects, issued by the Bureau of Reclamation; and current and annual publications of the Department of Agriculture, among which are Report of Administrator of Soil Conservation Service, Agricultural Statistics, The Farm Income Situation, Farm Real Estate Market Developments, The Balance Sheet of Agriculture, and Statistics of Farmer Cooperatives.

Data on farm production, marketings, and imports and exports for crops, livestock, and poultry are in section 24, Agriculture-Production, Marketing, and Trade.

A Census of Agriculture, entailing personal enumeration of individual farms, has been taken every 10 years since 1840 and every 5 years since 1920. The first Census, limited in scope, included such items as numbers of livestock, production of wool, value of poultry and dairy products, and production of principal crops. Data on number, acreage, and value of farms were first obtained in the 1850 Census; on farm tenure, in 1880; and on a detailed classification of farmland by use, in 1925. The 1959 Census of Agriculture is the most recent one for which complete data are available; preliminary results from the 1964 Census became available during 1966 and final reports for individual States in 1967.

Farms and farmland. In the course of its history, the Bureau of the Census has used varying definitions of a farm. In the 1959 and 1964 Censuses, places of less than 10 acres were counted as farms if estimated sales of agricultural products for the year amounted to at least $250, and places of 10 or more acres if such sales amounted to at least $50. In the 1950 and 1954 Censuses, places of 3 or more acres were counted as farms if the annual value of agricultural products, whether for home use or for sale, but exclusive of home-garden products, amounted to $150 or more; places of less than 3 acres were counted as farms only if the annual sales amounted to $150 or more. In the Censuses from 1925 to 1945, farms included places of 3 or more acres having any agricultural production, other than from a home garden, and places of less than 3 acres having agricultural production valued at a minimum of $250. For definitions used in earlier Censuses, see U.S. Census of Agriculture: 1959, Vol. II, Introduction. Currently included as farms are such agricultural enterprises as nurseries, greenhouses, hothouses, mushroom houses, and cranberry bogs; excluded are fish farms, fish hatcheries, oyster farms, frog farms, fur farms, apiaries, kennels, game preserves, parks, and the like. In the case of landowners who had one or more tenants, renters, croppers, or managers, the land operated by each was counted as a separate farm. In the 1964 Census, generally all farms with sales of $2,500 or more were classified as commercial. Farms with sales of $50 to $2,499 were classified as commercial if the operator was under 65 years of age and did not work off the farm 100 or more days during the year.

Farmland refers to all land under the control of a farm operator and considered as part of his farm, including land not actually under cultivation or used for pasture or grazing. Rent-free land was included as part of the farm only if the operator had sole use of it. Land used for pasture or grazing that was neither owned nor leased by the farm operator, such as national forests, Taylor grazing land, State or other public lands, and some railroad and other privately owned lands, is not included.

Irrigation and drainage.-Irrigated land as defined by the Bureau of the Census is the net acreage of farmland to which irrigation water was applied during the census year. It excludes land not irrigated during the census year and also irrigated nonfarm land.

In the 18 Western States (Alaska excluded) and Louisiana, the Bureau of the Census collects information at 10-year intervals on acres irrigated, irrigation works, capital investment, etc., from irrigation companies, districts, and other organizations, and from farms that operate their own irrigation works. Irrigation information for other States is generally limited to the regular farm census. Following the 1954 and 1959 Censuses, a special survey of irrigation was conducted in humid areas. The Bureau of the Census in 1950 and 1960 enumerated, in general, only organized enterprises with 500 acres or more of drained farmland. In 1950, smaller irrigation enterprises which had their own drainage works were also included. In previous censuses (1920 to 1940), all organized enterprises draining farmlands were included regardless of size. Privately drained lands of less than 500 acres have not been enumerated in any drainage

census.

Soil conservation.-Soil conservation district legislation has been enacted in all 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. A soil conservation district is a political subdivision of a State. Districts have broad responsibility and authority for conservation and development of soil, water, and related resources. In most cases, districts have authority to accept Federal, State, county, and private assistance for their soil and water conservation programs. On request of the local district governing body, the Department of Agriculture provides technical and other assistance.

Farm income.-Cash income is the cash receipts from farm marketings and represents quantities of agricultural products sold by farmers multiplied by prices received per unit of production at the local market. Gross farm income includes cash receipts and also Government payments, value of farm products consumed on the farm, and rental value of farm homes.

Historical statistics.-Tabular headnotes provide cross-references, where applicable, to Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1957. See preface.

FIG. XXXIX. FARM POPULATION, FARMS, AND FARM SIZE: 1940 To 1964 [See tables 892 and 897]

No. 892. FARM POPULATION AND COMPONENTS OF CHANGE: 1920 TO 1966 [In thousands, except as indicated. Prior to 1959, excludes Alaska and 1960, Hawaii. Figures for 1945 to 1959 are revised to provide a continuous series approximating the new definition of farm population; see text, p. 2. See Historical Statistics, Colonial Times to 1957, series C 74-79, for estimates for 1920 to 1944]

NA Not available.

i Beginning 1940, includes inductions and enlistments into Armed Forces, and persons returning from Armed Forces. For all years, includes persons who did not move but who were in and out of the farm population because agricultural operations began or ceased, respectively, on the place where they were living. Total population includes Armed Forces abroad.

Source: Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Farm Population, Estimates for 1910-62, 1963, 1964, 1965, and 1966.

Prior

No. 893.

FARMS-NUMBER AND ACREAGE: 1920 TO 1967

to 1959, excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Estimated. For definition of farms and farmland, see text, p. 603. See also Historical Statistics, Colonial Times to 1957, series K1-2]

1 Census years have been adjusted for underenumeration and for changes in definition of a farm; intercensal years are based on trend and on indications of change in acreage and livestock surveys.

Source: Dept. of Agriculture, Statistical Reporting Service; Number of Farms, 1910-1959; Land in Farms, 19501959, By States, 1962 (Statistical Bulletin No. 316), supplemented annually by Number of Farms and Land in Farms; and unpublished data.

No. 894. FARM OPERATOR HOUSEHOLDS AND INCOME FROM SOURCES OTHER THAN THE FARM OPERATED, BY STATES: 1964

[Money figures in millions of dollars. Preliminary. For composition of regions, see fig. I. p. xii]

Source: Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; U.S. Census of Agriculture: 1964, preliminary reports, Series AC 64-P1.