History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

CHAPTER XXVII.
AGRICULTURE, STOCK-RAISING, MANUFACTURES, AND MINING.
1852-1886.
Agricultural Products and Yield per Acre—Irrigation—Character
of the Soil—Fruit Culture—Viticulture—Sericulture—Timber
and Timber-lands—Bunch-grass—Cattle-raising—Dairy Products
—Horses—Sheep—Woollen Manufactures—Leather—Other Manufactures—Iron-mining—Coal-mining—Copper—Sulphur—Gypsum
and Mica—Other Minerals—Building Stone—Gold and Silver—
The West Mountain District—The Rush Valley District—The
Cottonwood District—The American Fork District—The Tintic
District—The Ontario Mine—Other Mining Districts—Mining
Products—Milling, Smelting, and Reduction-works.
The progress of agriculture in Utah will best be
understood from the following figures: In 1849, as
we have seen, nearly 130,000 bushels of cereals were
raised from about 17,000 acres of land, 1 then valued
at $6.50 per acre. In 1883, which was by no means
a favorable year, more than 1,600,000 bushels of
wheat, and some 722,000 of oats, 305,000 of barley,
193,000 of corn, together with 215,000 tons of hay,
and 800.000 bushels of potatoes, were produced from
about 215,000 acres, 2 the value of which varied according
to location from $25 to $100 per acre; the yield
1 See p. 328, this vol. Three fourths of the crop was wheat, and there
were 10,000 bushels each of corn and oats. Most of it was produced on the
banks of Jordan River and its affluents, and in the neighborhood of Utah Lake.
In Utah Sketches, MS., passim, it is stated that land was cultivated in Sanpete
co. in 1848, and in Tooele and Utah cos. in 1849. Some 45,000 bushels
of potatoes were also raised in 1849, besides other vegetables, together with
40 pounds of hops and 70 of tobacco.
a For tabulated statement of cereal and farm products for each county in
1S83, see Utah Gazcteer, 18S4, 297-8.
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