PARMIlSrG IN SOUTHWESTERN KENTUCKY. 7 



labor income of these farms was $158, as compared with $356, the 

 average of all farms. 



Live stock on the average successful farm of 300 acres of improved 

 land was distributed approximately as follows : 



Live stock on average successful farm of 300 acres of improved land. 



Per Per 100 acres 

 farm, improved land. 



Cows 6 2 



Young stock 6 2 



Hogs 60 20 



Stock cattle 6 2 



Sheep 45 15 



Poultry 150 50 



Work stock 10 3 



Acres Improved land per 1,000-pound animal, 6.6. 



Ordinarily farms in this section are not as heavily stocked as they 

 should be. The diversified farms on this type of soil should have a 

 carrying capacity of at least one 1,000-pouncl animal for each 6 to 7 

 acres of improved land. 



DIVERSITY. 



A proper diversity of sources of income is an important factor in 

 profitable farming. In the first place, this stabilizes the income 

 from year to year. It is seldom that conditions which make one sin- 

 gle crop unprofitable will affect all crops in the same manner. For 

 instance, dry weather during the latter part of May and June may 

 have a bad effect on corn and tobacco, when usually such conditions 

 are favorable for wheat. In the second place, by means of diversity 

 a better distribution of labor is secured. Tobacco furnishes work 

 during every month of the year. Other crops require attention for 

 shorter periods during the growing season. By long experience 

 these various crops have come into an adjustment which meets all 

 conditions in a practical and generally advantageous manner. Of 

 course, on many farms a better adjustment could be secured by more 

 careful planning along the lines indicated by general experience. 



Farms between 220 and 300 acres in size proved to be the most 

 efficiently organized among those studied, and had, also, the most 

 profitable degree of diversity. They showed about three-fourths as 

 much of their receipts from live stock as from tobacco. Eeceipts 

 from wheat and tobacco were approximately equal in amount. About 

 equal amounts were received also from hogs and sheep, and from 

 cows and stock cattle. On farms of this size more receipts come from 

 hogs than from sheep and more from stock cattle than from cows. 

 On small farms — 75 to 100 acres in size — receipts came mainly from 

 some one enterprise like dairy products, hay, or tobacco. 



