UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



BULLETIN No. 705 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



July 27, 1918 



PROFITABLE MANAGEMENT OF GENERAL FARMS 

 IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON. 



By Byron Hunter and S. 0. Jayne, Agriculturists. 



CONTENTS. 



Scope of the bulletin 1 



Summary and conclusions 1 



Agricultural history of the valley 2 



Types of soil 3 



Definitions of terms used 3 



Use and value of land 5 



Use of capital 5 



Types of fanning 6 



Some factors which influence efficiency 8 



Some factors which influence crop yields 14 



Relation of soil type to percentage farm in- 

 come is of capital 19 



Causes of the difference in efficiency 20 



Starting clover on the clay soil 21 



SCOPE OF THE BULLETIN. ^ 



This bulletin is based on information secured from the analysis 

 of a year's business (1912) on 212 general farms in Marion and Polk 

 Counties, Oreg., and a general farm practice study in the Willamette 

 Valley covering a period of several years. It presents some of the 

 more important factors which influence the profits on the farms 

 studied, shows why the ''valley" or silt loam farms are operated 

 more efficiently than the "red hill" or clay farms, and makes recom- 

 mendations that should materially increase the profitableness of 

 general farming throughout the Willamette Valley. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 



Of the 212 farms embraced in this study 68 are located on the clay 

 soil and 144 on the silt loam soil. 



1 The figures presented in this bulletin are those secured in a typical year before the war, 1912. It would 

 be impracticable to offer recent figures, because of the unstable conditions prevailing the last few years. 

 The prime emphasis is not to be placed on the presentation of comparative profits for one year, but on the 

 lefesons which these figures set forth. In short, it is the desire merely to indicate some of the fundamentals 

 of farming success in the Willamette Valley, drawing upon one typical year for practical illustrations and 

 showing the relationship between the various factors in fanning. 



59107°— 18— Bull. 705 1 



