137 The Agricultural Economy of the American Bottoms 
FARMING OPERATIONS 
Tractors are in general use for plowing, disking, and harrowing, and 
for cutting small grain. Draft animals still are considered necessary for 
cultivating crops and for miscellaneous hauling. Fall plowing is cus- 
tomary, if weather conditions permit, in all fields where the crops are 
gathered in time. Fall plowing (a) assists in the control of weeds, 
(b) promotes the early decay of organic matter that is turned under, 
(c) exposes burrowing insects to the rigors of winter weather, (d) per- 
mits an improvement in the mechanical condition of the soil through 
the mellowing effects of freezing and thawing, and (e) furthers the work 
of producing crops during the next growing season. Wheat and rye are 
planted in the fall; practically all other planting is done during the 
first few weeks of the growing season. The length of the growing season 
provides a time span of several weeks during which fields can be seede 
to various kinds of crops with a probability of maturing before the first 
killing frost of autumn. For the cultivation of various kinds of crops, 
riding cultivators, drawn by mules or possibly horses, are in common 
use except in fields of truck products where one-mule walking cultivators 
frequently are employed. Attempts are made to distribute the work 
of preparing seed beds, planting, cultivating, and harvesting so that a 
minimum of extra help will be necessary. In spite of such attempts 
practically every farmer requires help during some part of the year. 
TRENDS 
A consideration of the relations of the rural population to the physi- 
cal and cultural environments suggests several distinctive trends. 
1. The urban and suburban areas are continuing to expand, and it 
is conceivable that new centers of population will be established. More 
appealing opportunities in urban centers than on farms are inducing 
young people, when they become old enough to engage in vocational 
pursuits, to leave the farms. As improvements become obsolete, some 
farmers are moving to cities or villages but are continuing to operate 
their farms. The increasing importance of urban markets is stimulat- 
ing farmers to engage in trucking or in the raising of “side line’’ crops- 
City people are purchasing relatively small acreage tracts with the pur 
pose of engaging in subsistence farming while depending primarily on 
positions in urban centers. 
2. Grain farmers are establishing “side line” crops, and grain farmers 
with ‘‘side line’ crops are becoming truck gardeners. Large farms are 
