Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of research data that examines patterns in Illinois agriculture from 1840-1914. Materials include annotated Illinois maps, charts, and excerpts from Transactions of the Department of Agriculture for the State of Illinois.
The context in which this collection was created is unknown. Attached to the final packet in this set is a slip of paper that mentions Herbert B. Rosenberg of Granite City, Illinois. Rosenberg (1893-1968) attended the University of Illinois to pursue agriculture, graduating circa 1916. Despite having worked as a farmer under the employ of his father in Dow, Illinois, for a brief period, Herbert B. Rosenberg was frequently listed in censuses and city directories as a metalware salesman. The connection between Rosenberg and the papers is unclear.
This collection consists of data tables and maps documenting agricultural production in Illinois from 1840-1914. The collection focuses on horticultural crops in several categories: vegetables, orchard fruits and products, bush fruits, vineyard fruits and products, nursery products, and forest plants. The data, pulled from census records, record the price, market value, and quantity of each category by year. The accompanying maps, on letter-sized paper, indicate the geographic origin of the crops by year as well.
In addition to this data on horticultural crops, this collection also includes data on the number of farms and acres of farmland Illinois, as well as the number of square feet utilized by florists and that kept “under glass” (in greenhouses). Some papers are attached to excerpts from Transactions of the Department of Agriculture for the State of Illinois, which provide additional information about the crops involved.
These materials were transferred to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections by Funk ACES Library in 2022. The provenance prior to this transfer is unknown.
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