18 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1918. 



Most of the farmers of Louisa County follow a more or less definite 

 rotation. About 60 per cent use a rotation consisting of corn, corn, 

 oats and clover or wheat and clover, and clover. Of the remainder 

 about 20 per cent use the following rotation: Corn, corn, oats, 

 wheat, and clover. Another 20 per cent rotate corn and oats, with 

 an occasional change to clover. Where winter wheat is grown the 

 crop sequence is generally corn, corn, wheat, wheat, and clover. On 

 especially sandy soils corn, rye, and clover are often grown in rotation.* 



The census reports that only 1.4 per cent of the farms used com- 

 mercial fertilizer in 1909, at a total cost of $815. A considerable 

 quantity of lime, which is used for correcting soil acidity, is shipped 

 in each year. In 1918 about 1,000 tons were imported. Barnyard 

 manure is generally applied to sod following removal of the hay and 

 before plowing for corn. 



Farm laborers in this county are white, and mostly of American 

 birth. Before the war demands created unusual conditions the sup- 

 ply was abmidant. Wages for a single man were ordinarily $30 to 

 $40 a month and board ; for a married man, $40 to $50 and the use of 

 a house, garden, a cow or poultry, and sometimes fuel ; and for day 

 labor, $1.50 to $3. Corn husking was paid for at the rate of 3 to 6 

 cents a bushel, depending on the season, yield, and other conditions. 



The 1910 census gives the number of farms in the county as 1,543, 

 practically the same as in 1880. The range in size is from 40 acres to 

 about 1,600, with an average in 1910 of 153.6 acres. Of the area 

 of the average farm, 80.6 per cent, or 123.7 acres, consists of improved 

 land. 



The census shows a steady decrease in the percentage of farms 

 operated by owners, from 77.5 per cent in 1880 to 64.4 per cent in 

 1910. Of the farms operated by tenants, only about 15 per cent are 

 rented for cash. In most cases the tenant furnishes the live stock, 

 implements, one-half the seed, and pays $5 to $7 per acre for pasture; 

 the land owner furnishes one-half the seed, and receives one-half the 

 crop. 



The average assessed value of farm land as shown by the census 

 increased from $36.56 an acre in 1880 to $90.78 in 1910. At the 

 present (1918) land values range from $40 or $50 an acre for very 

 sandy or unimproved, undrained land to $300 an acre for the best 

 improved, well-located upland. The average valuation of upland 

 farms at the time of writing is about $150 to $175 an acre. 



* One farmer is buildin.;,' up some sandy land in a profitable manner by following; sweet corn with rye, 

 put in with a one-horse drill at the last cultivation; the whole crop is pastured. This process is repeated 

 each year. 



