hilly or rolling land, or stony ground). To be sure, most of the farmers 

 still walk behind their cultivators and their ])lo\vs; but modern reapers, 

 drills, potato planters, tedders, hay loaders, etc., are widely employed. 

 The binders, drills and wagons are practically always housed when not 

 in use, and over the whole county, probably 75 to 90% of all other 

 machinery is similarly cared for. On the farms operated by tenants 

 the cjuality of the machinery is not usually as high as on the other farms, 

 and not quite such good care is taken of it. 



(3) The Use of Fertilizer. It is literally true that the county owes its 

 present prosperity to the widespread use of fertilizers. There are few 

 farms that over any length of time could produce even half crops without 

 fertilizing. All fertilize for wheat, usually 400 to GOO pounds to the 

 acre, and also for tobacco, about the same amount. Perhaps 75% fer- 

 tilize for potatoes, while a comparatively small proportion fertilize for 

 corn and grass, the amount used in these cases varying. Speaking for 

 the county as a whole it is necessary to lime very heavily, but the soil of 

 the county is so varied that the particular fertilizer ingredients required 

 differ in different districts. The extensive stock-feeding and dairying 

 of some sections make the use of commercial fertilizers less necessary in 

 those parts. 



(4) Drainage. The land does not require a great deal of artificial 

 drainage. Where drainage is rec^uired, it is usually accomplished by pole 

 and stone or blind ditch. In Poolesville, Rockville, and Wheaton dis- 

 tricts a considerable amount of tile is used. 



Montgomery, Compared with Other Counties in Maryland 



In Montgomery County we have said that 75.4% of the farms were 

 operated by their owners and called attention to the misfortune of having 

 one fourth of the farms operated by tenants. However, the showing of 

 the county in this respect is better than the showing of the state as a 

 whole. The per cent, of the farms operated by owners for the entire state 

 is 68.5. Only five counties have a larger proportion of their farms so 

 operated than Montgomery County. 



In Montgomery County, 82% of the land area is in farms, 75.6% 

 of the farm land is improved and the farms average 111.9 acres to the 

 farm. For the entire state, 79.5% of the land area is in farms, 66.3% 

 of the farm land is improved and the farms average 103.4 acres to the 

 farm. In Montgomery County the total average value of each farm 

 is ^8,542, and the average value of the land is ^46.39 per acre. For the 

 entire state, the average value of a farm is ^5,849 and the average value 

 per acre is ^32.32. 



(5) Miscellaneous. In their general appearance the farms are usually 

 very attractive. The county is characterized by neat farming. There 



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