141 The Agricultural Economy of the American Bottoms 
levee districts. The drainage and levee districts provide a means of 
classifying farm lands. However, they have had only a moderate 1n- 
fluence in the differentiation of types of agricultural economy. Conse- 
quently, it was considered preferable to treat them incidentally in re- 
lation to the agricultural sections with which they are associated. 
Work sheets applicable to farm units ——Before undertaking the a 
sary field work, the writer made a work sheet which embraced the fol- 
lowing topics: 
(1) location, (2) name of owner, (3) name of farmer, (4) number of 
years on the farm, (5) previous ownerships, (6) number of acres, (7) boun- 
daries, (8) kinds of crops with acreage, (9) areal distribution of different 
kinds of crops, (10) comparison with previous year or years, (11) experi- 
mentations with new kinds of crops, (12) rotation of crops, (13) bikes 
land and fallow land, (14) surface features, (15) natural and artificial 
drainage, (16) erosion and sedimentation, (17) kinds of soils and their 
distributions, (18) maintenance of soil fertility, (19) preparation of seed 
beds, (20) planting, (21) caring for growing crops, (22) garnering the 
crops, (23) disposition of crops, (24) gardens and fruit trees, (25) pastures, 
(26) livestock, (27) fences, (28) buildings, (29) domestic water supply, 
(30) water for livestock, (31) floods and flood protection, (32) favorable 
and unfavorable conditions affecting production, (33) supplementary 
means of making a living, (34) help needed, (35) seasonal distribution of 
ork, (36) improvements or changes contemplated, (37) cooperation 
with neighbors, (38) influence of government, (39) influence of individuals 
or groups of individuals, (40) trading centers, (41) educational and re- 
ligious facilities, (42) future plans, and (43) miscellaneous facts suggested 
by the particular farm and farmer. 
The grouping of ownership farms—A reconnaissance of the American 
Bottoms, before detailed work was begun, suggested a wheat-corn ~ 
tern with minor modifications. However, detailed tabulations of indi- 
vidual farms revealed significant differentiations as well as significant 
similarities in farm patterns. It became evident that differentiations 
were sufficient to justify the recognition of nine different types of ast 
cultural economy. Furthermore, it became evident that contiguous farms 
in the same restricted neighborhood with a few exceptions had the same 
type of crop pattern. Thus it proved feasible to subdivide the rural area 
into sections with differentiated agricultural economies. The boundaries 
of the different sections suggested that (a) differences in soil types, (b) 
differences in relief, (c) proximity to population centers, (d) relative 
isolation because of swamps and water bodies, (e) the speculative value 
of land, and (f) local leadership were important factors in contributing 
to these differentiations. Furthermore, in most instances where 3? 
