Part 2
=Soils.=--In the northern part of the state the sides of the higher mountains are steep and are in many places denuded of soil. In the valleys and on the hills north of the terminal moraine the soil consists largely of glacial drift, which is composed of clay, sand, and gravel mixed with bowlders. This soil is fertile, but a large part of it is not easy to cultivate, because of the large stones in It and because of the rugged surface. South of the terminal moraine, in the Highlands and in the Piedmont Plateau, the soil is composed of gravel and sand washed down by streams from the glacial deposits farther north and of disintegrated underlying rocks, which in the Highlands consisted largely of gneiss and in the Piedmont Plateau of sandstones and shales. The soil of the Coastal Plain consists of extensive deposits of gravel, sand, clay, and marl deposited in the ocean, which once covered this region. The gravel, sand, and clay were carried into it by the streams which flowed from the north. The marl consists largely of very small shells of animals that lived in the sea. This mixed soil is very fertile, particularly that in which there is an abundance of marl. This is found in the "Marl Belt," which is a strip of land extending from the Atlantic Highlands southwest past Trenton and Mount Holly as far as Salem. Its width varies, being widest at its northeastern end and becoming narrower and less rich in marl toward the southwest. Formerly marl was used extensively as a fertilizer to enrich poorer soils, but it has been generally displaced by the richer commercial fertilizers. The so-called "Pine Barrens" which cover a large part of the Plain, east of the Marl Belt, are comparatively unproductive, but by proper cultivation and the application of fertilizers, these areas can be made very productive.
=Crops.=--In the production of grain crops the state cannot, on account of its varied surface and its small farms, compete with the western states with their great plains and large farms. Wheat is produced mainly for local consumption. Corn is grown in large quantities in all parts of the state. Rye and buckwheat are also raised in limited quantities. Much of the land, particularly that which is not adapted to the growth of other crops, is devoted to pasture and hay. Many circumstances are extremely favorable to special agricultural industries whose products are vegetables, fruits, flowers, poultry, eggs, milk, and butter. These are: the climate, with its mild winters and generous rainfall; the fertility of the soil; the large permanent population of the state; the presence of thousands of visitors from other states at the summer resorts of the state; the nearness of the farm lands of the state to the great cities of New York and Philadelphia; and the excellent facilities for the rapid transportation of agricultural products to the markets.
The constant demand of the large cities makes market gardening very profitable, and this industry is carried on in all parts of the state, but with special intensity in those sections which are near the cities. All kinds of vegetables are raised. Of these the potato crop is the most valuable. In the southern counties, which have a sandy soil, large crops of sweet potatoes are produced. This section is also prominent in the cultivation of tomatoes, beans, and peas, great quantities of which are used in the canning industry. Cabbages, celery, and onions are valuable products. The demand for fresh, early vegetables has encouraged market gardeners to devote increased attention to growing vegetables under glass.
Fruits of all kinds are raised in all parts of the state. In the northwestern section of the state, in parts of Warren, Morris, and Hunterdon counties, peaches are grown in great quantities on the stony soil of the glacial drift which is not favorable to general farming. In the western section apples and pears are abundant. While strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and grapes are grown in all parts of the state, they are grown in special abundance in the southern part of the state. In this section establishments for the bottling of unfermented grape juice have grown up. Huckleberries are common in the wooded sections of the northern and southern parts of the state. Cranberry bogs are found in Atlantic, Burlington, and Ocean counties.
=Animal Products.=--Dairy farming is successful in all parts of the state, particularly in the sections in which pasture and hay are easily obtained, and in which facilities for the prompt transportation of milk to the cities are at hand. Milk is produced not only by the general farmer but also by special dairy farms, which, by devoting special attention to the care and feeding of cattle and to the handling of the milk, produce milk of a superior quality. Poultry raising and the production of eggs are profitable. The poultry industry is especially extensive in Cumberland, Atlantic, and Ocean counties.
With the increase in the population of the cities the farm land of the state is growing in extent and value, but it is clear that more rapid growth is possible and desirable. The State Agricultural School at Rutgers College, with Its Experiment Station and practical courses of instruction, is doing much to improve agriculture in New Jersey.
MINERALS
Iron ore is found in many parts of the state. The mines of Morris County in the Highlands are the most productive. Iron ore was smelted at Shrewsbury in the seventeenth century by Colonel Lewis Morris, and in many places at the time of the Revolution. The iron industry of the state was most extensive and successful during the third quarter of the last century. The greater abundance and richness of western ores has since made it impossible to operate most of the mines and furnaces of Warren and Morris counties profitably. The industry has therefore declined. A few mines are still worked, however, in these two counties. Very rich zinc mines are located in Sussex County, in the neighborhood of Franklin Furnace. In the production of zinc this state ranks fifth among the states of the Union.
Granite of good quality is found in the Appalachian and Highland zones. The quarrying of this material is a rapidly growing industry. Besides granite the sandstone of the Piedmont Plateau is widely used for building purposes. Slate is quarried to some extent in Sussex and Warren counties. Talc, or soapstone, which, ground into powder, is used in making certain kinds of paper and for other purposes, is found in Warren County. The production of cement from limestone and shale, found in the western part of the Highlands near Phillipsburg, has grown to be a very important industry. This industry and the quarrying of slate are parts of the great cement and slate industries of the adjacent section of Pennsylvania, across the Delaware, near Easton, which are among the most important in the country. The trap rock of the Piedmont Plateau is used for building purposes, road making, and railroad beds. Its hardness makes it particularly valuable for macadam roads. In all parts of the state are found deposits of sand and gravel necessary in building operations.
The beds of marl found in the Coastal Plain have already been mentioned. This region also contains very valuable beds of white sand and fine clay. This sand is used in the making of glass, and has caused the establishment of many glass factories in the southwestern part of the state. Molding sand is also found in great quantity. The most extensive beds of clay are found in Mercer and Middlesex counties. In the former they are used in the making of pottery and in the latter in the making of brick, terra cotta, tile, and other clay products. The enormous industries of Trenton and of Perth Amboy and its vicinity are due to the presence of these clays. For the finer pottery, clays brought from other states or countries are used. Much clay is shipped from this state to other states.
=Manufacturing.=--New Jersey is an important manufacturing state. In this state the manufacturing industries have been developed in a remarkable degree by a combination of conditions and causes. Very early in the history of New Jersey the people of the state were forced by their own needs and the demands of their neighbors to establish manufacturing, and thus this industry has the advantage of many years of growth. The state is rich in certain important natural resources, which have been mentioned. It has profited greatly by its nearness to the coal and iron fields of Pennsylvania and to the two great cities of New York and Philadelphia, with their enormous demands for manufactured products. The number of intelligent and skillful workers in the state is unusually large. The facilities for rapid transportation, both of raw materials from all sources and of finished products to all markets, are unusually abundant. The navigable waters which fringe the state, and the transcontinental railroad systems with their branches, which cross it, facilitate shipments to every part of the world.
Among the most important manufactures of New Jersey are refined copper, silk and silk goods, foundry and machine shop products, petroleum products, packed meats, woolen and felt goods, wire, leather and leather goods, electrical machinery, tobacco manufactures, chemicals, and ships. (See Table II for other manufactures.)
Nearly one sixth of the people of the state are engaged in the manufacturing industries. Only four states, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, show a larger proportion of workers engaged in manufacturing. Although New Jersey is forty-fifth in area and ninth in population, this state is sixth in the total value of manufactured goods, first in the manufacture of silk and silk goods, in the smelting and refining of copper, in the manufacture of oil cloth and linoleum and of sewing machines, second in the manufacture of chemicals, rubber goods, pottery, terra cotta, and fine clay products, and of paint and varnish, third in the manufacture of electrical machinery and supplies, and fourth in the manufacture of soap and gold and silver articles.
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION
In the early days of the state communication between the settlements was by Indian trails, which, as travel increased, expanded into roads. Settlements on the coast were also connected by sailing vessels. The roads gradually increased in number and length as the interior of the state was developed. Little effort was made, however, toward keeping the public roads in good condition. The difficulties of travel and transportation led to the construction of many "turnpikes," or roads built by private companies, which charged tolls for their use. With very few exceptions these have been made public roads.
In the early part of the nineteenth century the foundations of transportation by steamboat, canals, and railroads were laid. The Morris Canal, from Phillipsburg to Jersey City, was projected and constructed to bring anthracite coal from Pennsylvania to the iron forges of northern New Jersey and to New York Bay, and to connect the towns along its route with the city of New York. The Delaware and Raritan Canal, from Bordentown to New Brunswick, the Camden and Amboy Railroad, and the New Jersey Railroad were constructed in order to increase transportation facilities between Philadelphia and New York harbor. Now all parts of the state are connected with each other and with those great centers by many railroad lines. The importance of our railroads has been much increased by the development of the West and by the geographical location of the state in the path of direct communication between the western states and the city of New York. All the trunk lines from the Middle West, with one exception, pass through New Jersey, and have terminals in Jersey City, Hoboken, and Weehawken. The state has 2464 miles of railroad, a greater mileage compared with its area than any other state. Besides, there are 1294 miles of electric railway which traverse all parts of the state and connect all important points.
Because of the superior advantages of railroads, the canals are now obsolete, the Morris Canal being practically abandoned. The traffic between New York and Philadelphia is growing so rapidly that it is probable that the Delaware and Raritan Canal may be widened and deepened and thus may become a barge or ship canal.
Communication with Pennsylvania over the Delaware is by means of many ferries and bridges. There is no bridge between New Jersey and New York over the Hudson, but the construction of one has been proposed. Until 1908 the only means of communication was by ferries. The Pennsylvania Railroad now enters New York by tunnels extending from the Hackensack meadows to its terminal in the city, and Jersey City and Hoboken are also connected with New York by tunnels. In cooperation with the State of New York, New Jersey has provided for the construction of a tunnel for vehicles between Jersey City and New York, and, in cooperation with Pennsylvania, of a bridge over the Delaware between Camden and Philadelphia.
The state is noted for its excellent roads. The state and municipalities are spending vast sums of money on their construction and maintenance. Funds for state roads, which are in charge of a State Highway Commission, are obtained from the issuance of automobile licenses and from a special road tax.
RECREATION AND HEALTH
New Jersey is rich in its facilities for recreation and recuperation. The long sea coast is one long line of attractive summer resorts, which are famous all over the world, while some places are pleasure and health resorts all the year round, and attractions of a different kind are found in abundance among the mountains, woods, lakes, and streams of the northern part of the state.
Under authority given by state law the counties and cities have provided many parks and playgrounds and have adopted progressive plans for extending these healthful provisions.
The state has adopted stringent measures regarding sanitation, protection against disease, protection against injury in manufacturing, housing conditions, safety in travel, protection of minors in permissible occupations, and the segregation and treatment of the tuberculous. State laws provide for the payment of damages to persons injured in the industries, and of pensions to dependent widows.
The salt marshes are a menace to health and comfort because they are breeding places for mosquitoes. The counties are authorized by law to spend large sums of money for the purpose of destroying these pests.
GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION
=Government.=--The Constitution of New Jersey divides the government into three departments,--legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative department is vested in the legislature, which is composed of the senate and the general assembly. The senate is composed of one senator from each county, elected by the voters for three years. The general assembly is composed of sixty assemblymen apportioned among the counties according to population and elected by the voters for one year. The executive power is vested in the governor, who is elected for a term of three years. A person cannot be governor for two successive terms. The judicial power is vested in many courts, of which the principal are the court of errors and appeals, which is the highest court, court of chancery, supreme court, circuit court, and courts of common pleas or county courts. The judges are appointed by the governor with the approval of the senate.
The principal state officers, besides the governor, are secretary of state, state treasurer, state comptroller, and attorney-general.
The state is divided into twenty-one counties, which are again divided into townships, cities, boroughs, and towns. Each of these has its own government, which is administered in accordance with laws passed by the legislature. The principal county officers besides the judge are sheriff, county clerk, surrogate, coroner, county collector, and members of the board of freeholders who are elected by vote of the people.
The counties maintain courthouses, penitentiaries, farms or homes for the aged poor, and may provide parental homes or detention homes for juvenile delinquents or juvenile witnesses.
The state is represented in the United States Congress by two senators and twelve representatives.
=Education.=--The Constitution requires that "the legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction" of the children of the state. It is because of this requirement and the desire of the people to enforce it that the state has such excellent schools.
The principal officers of the state department of public instruction are the members of the state board of education, the commissioner of education, and four assistant commissioners. Each county has a county superintendent of schools, and each city and large town has its own board of education and superintendent of schools or supervising principal.
In the school year 1919-1920 the number of pupils who attended the public schools was 591,798. The number of teachers was 18,873. Because of good schools and of compulsory school attendance, there were in 1910, only 113,502 illiterates, or persons of ten years of age and over who could not read or write, or 5.6 per cent of the total population. Of these illiterates, 93,000 were of foreign birth and less than one per cent were of native white parentage.
State normal schools for the training of teachers are located at Trenton, Montclair, Newark, and Glassboro. City normal schools are maintained for the same purpose by Jersey City, Paterson, Trenton, and Camden. The state maintains summer schools for the preparation of teachers and makes appropriations to the State Agricultural College, a department of Rutgers College at New Brunswick. Special schools maintained by the state are: Farnum School, at Beverly, which is associated with the Trenton Normal School; the School for the Deaf at Trenton; and the Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youths at Bordentown. Higher institutions of learning which are located in New Jersey are: Princeton University at Princeton, Rutgers College at New Brunswick, Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, St. Peter's College at Jersey City, College of St. Elizabeth at Convent Station, Mount St. Mary's College at Plainfield, Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, Seton Hall College at South Orange, Upsala College at Kenilworth, Bloomfield Theological Seminary at Bloomfield, and College of Jersey City.
POPULATION
The population of New Jersey in 1910, according to the United States Census, was 2,537,168; and the density of population, or the number of people per square mile, was 337.7. In 1920, according to the United States Census, the population was 3,155,900, an increase of 24.4 per cent., giving a density of 420. Compared with other states. New Jersey was tenth in population, and third in density of population, Rhode Island being first and Massachusetts second. The area of greatest density of population is the northeastern section, including Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Essex, Union, and Middlesex counties, which with an area of 1018 square miles had a population of 2,112,933, or more than sixty-five per cent, of the total population of the state. In this section there were more than 2000 persons per square mile. Hudson County, the smallest in the state, had the largest population, which was 629,124 or 14,630 per square mile. In Hoboken, with an area of less than two square miles, the population was more than 68,000 or more than 34,000 to the square mile. Other thickly populated sections are those of which Trenton and Camden are centers. Cape May County had the smallest and Ocean County the most scattered population, which was 22,155 or 35 per square mile.
The urban population, that is, the number residing in towns of more than 2500 people, was 2,486,378 in 1920, or 79 per cent, of the total population. This still leaves a rural population of 669,522, or about 90 per square mile, who are largely engaged in cultivation of the soil or the raising of stock.
The chief occupations of the people of the state are agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, and commerce. Many thousands of people of New Jersey are engaged in commercial and industrial enterprises and other business pursuits, in the large cities of the neighboring states. Many opportunities for comfortable residence with all conveniences and advantages and unsurpassed facilities for rapidly traveling back and forth attract many to this state who are employed in the cities of New York and Philadelphia.
According to the United States Census of 1920 the population of the New York City Metropolitan District was 7,750,237. Included in this district are the cities and towns in Hudson County and in parts of Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Union, and Middlesex counties, with a population of 1,795,590. In the Metropolitan District of Philadelphia, with a population of over 2,000,000, are parts of Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties with a population of 239,740. It is clear, therefore, that the occupations of two thirds of our people, at least, are subject to the direct influence of the commercial and industrial activities of these cities. (The United States Census Bureau defines a Metropolitan District as that which embraces the central city and all cities or parts of cities which lie within ten miles of its boundaries.)
CITIES, TOWNS, BOROUGHS, AND VILLAGES
The cities, towns, boroughs, and villages of New Jersey may be placed in six groups: first, those in the New York City Metropolitan District; second, places lying just outside the Metropolitan District of New York; third, Trenton and the towns of the Upper Delaware Valley; fourth, places in the Philadelphia Metropolitan District; fifth, places in the southern part of the state, near Delaware Bay; sixth, cities and towns on the Atlantic coast.
=Metropolitan District of New York.=--The following are the chief cities of New Jersey in the Metropolitan District of New York: Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Bayonne, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Perth Amboy.