UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 633 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 

 W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



February 25, 1918 



FACTORS OF SUCCESSFUL FARMING NEAR 

 MONETT, MO. 



By W. J. Spjxlman, Chief, Office of Farm Management. 



CONTENTS. 



The area in the survey was made 1 



The local agriculture 2 



Farms classified according to type of fo rmin g 4 



Sources of receipts 5 



Percentage of area in different crops 5 



Kinds of fruit and their local importance 6 



Relation of type of farming to size of farm 7 



Investment 7 



Profitableness of the various types 8 



Page. 

 The proper status of the strawberry industry 



in southwest Missouri 10 



The speculative nature of fruit enterprises. . . 10 



Maintenance of soil fertility 12 



Organization of some typical farms 14 



Organization of dairy farms 17 



A well-organized two-man farm -. 19 



Legumes 22 



Tenure 24 



THE AREA IN WHICH THE SURVEY WAS MADE. 



During the summer of 1915 an analysis was made of the business 

 of 274 farms lying within a radius of about 5 miles of the town of 

 Monett, in southwestern Missouri, 1 the center of the survey area lying 

 in the line between Barry and Lawrence Counties. This locality is 

 typical of a considerable area lying along the western margin of the 

 Ozark area and the eastern margin of the western prairies. In gen- 

 eral, the highest uplands were originally prairie and the slopes and 

 bottom lands timbered. 



The surface would be described, for the most part, as gently roll- 

 ing. A small stream flows from east to west through the town of 

 Monett. The bottom lands bordering it form a tract from a quarter 

 to a half mile wide, flanked on each side by a moderate rise of land 

 hardly prominent enough to be described as bluffs. Beyond is gently 

 rolling upland originally covered, for the most part, with blackjack 

 timber (a species of oak) and extending back to the prairie areas 

 covering the ridges between streams. 



1 The farm analyses on which this bulletin is based were made by Messrs. Walter J. 

 Tubbs, Ivan Allen, C. E. Allred, and F. D. Crum, under the direction of Mr. F. H. 

 Branch. Mr. R. D. Jennings has rendered material assistance in tabulating the data 

 and computing the tables. Acknowledgment is also due to the many farmers who kindly 

 furnished details concerning their farm business, thus making this study possible. 



18027° — IS — Bull. 633 1 





