4 BULLETIN 910, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



These farms are of all sizes and types, varying from truck farms of 

 only a few acres to large crop farms containing several hundred acres. 

 The types of farming practiced have been classified into five groups, 

 as follows : 



(1) Truck farms, on which the raising of vegetables and similar 

 produce predominates. 



(2) Dairy farms, on which dairying is the principal enterprise. 



(3) Fruit farms. 



(4) Crop farms, on which general field crops are raised, but few or 

 no dairy cows are kept, and no live stock is raised for sale. 



(5) General farms, where no one special enterprise predominates. 

 In the region studied there are many more general farms than any 



other type. Although more reports were received from men who 

 operate general farms than from any other class, this does not neces- 

 sarily mean that the percentage of such farmers who own motor 

 trucks is larger than that of men who follow special types of farming. 

 The number of farms of the different types and their average size 

 are shown in Table I. 



Table I. — Number of farms of different types, and their acreages. 



Type of farm. 



Truck.... 



Dairy 



Fruit 



Crop 



General . . 



All 



Number. 



1 

 Average 





size. 





Acres. 



149 



64 



129 



234 



113 



111 



48 



237 



314 



210 



753 



173 



DISTANCE TO MARKET. 



Probably the most striking point concerning these farms is their 

 great distance from market as compared with other farms in the same 

 section. Only 18 per cent of these farms are less than 5 miles from 

 market, while nearly one-fourth of them are 20 miles or more. As will 

 appear later, some of the men who have very long hauls have changed 

 their markets since purchasing their trucks, but the average distance 

 from market, even before the purchase of the trucks, was a little over 

 10 miles. (See fig. 1.) 



Seven hundred and four men reported the distance to the towns 

 where the materials hauled by trucks are usually marketed. The 

 exact number of farms of different types at different distances from 

 market is as follows: 



Of 143 truck farms — 



11 are less than 5 miles from market. 

 32 are from 5 to 9 miles from market. 

 34 are from 10 to 14 miles from market. 



