382 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



Topography, soil, labor requirements for crops, and 

 the price of labor are some of the factors affecting the 

 size of farms. It is interesting to note that in Virginia 

 where the rough topography interferes Avith the most 

 economical use of large machines and where tobacco, 

 which requires a great amount of hand labor, is a leading 

 crop, the farms average less than 100 acres. This is a 

 decrease of 6.2 acres per farm since 1910, probably in 

 response to the recent high price of labor. In Champaign 

 county, where- machinery can be used satisfactorily, the 

 farms have an average size of 165 acres, a slight increase 

 over the figures of ] 910. 



The greatest consequence of the geographic conditions 

 noted is the respective wealth of the two sections. The 

 prosperity of the Illinois plain is an established fact 

 to the Virginian, though the Illinois farmer may not real- 

 ize his good fortune. The difference is easy to distin- 

 guish, however, in either section after a sojourn in the 

 other. The well-tilled, generally level fields of Illinois 

 with a rank growth of crops almost continuous as far as 

 the eye can see, the good straight roads, and the modern 

 and spacious farm buildings present a striking contrast 

 to the wooded or waste slopes interspersed with culti- 

 vated fields, some of them offering the prospect of an 

 uncertain yield, the winding roads, and the many small 

 and poor farm buildings of the Virginia Piedmont. In 

 deliglitfulness of climate, especially the extended spring 

 and autumn seasons, and in beauty of scenery, the Vir- 

 ginia Piedmont far surpasses the Illinois plain, but it 

 does not compare Avith it in material prosperity. 



