12 BULLETIN 341, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The production of clover and grass seed was an important industry 

 in Chester County in 1840, but gradually declined and practically 

 disappeared about 1890. 



About 1880 a tobacco furore broke out in the county. For a few 

 years the area increased enormously, having spread from the adjoin- 

 ing county of Lancaster. But the craze for tobacco lasted only a 

 few years. Prices were disappointing and the prejudices of the farm- 

 ing people against the crop militated against its continuance. In the 

 area surveyed tobacco was found on only three farms, two of them 

 being tenant farms. 



FARMS CLASSIFIED BY TENURE. 



Of the 643 farms included in this survey 449 were operated hy 

 their owners, 17 were operated by farmers who owned part of the 

 land and rented additional land, and 7 were operated by owners who 

 rented out a part of their farms. There were 57 tenants paying cash 

 rent, 75 paying a half share, and 14 who furnished only labor and 

 received one-third of the products of the farm. There were three 

 other tenants who rented land from more than one landlord and 21 

 of the records were incomplete and were hence discarded. 



The 449 farms operated entirely by their owners were subdivided 

 as follows : 378 farms on which the farmer himself took a man's part 

 in the work of the farm ; 16 farms owned and managed by women who 

 did none of the farm work ; 27 farms devoted wholly or in part to a 

 hothouse business, mainly mushrooms, though in two cases carnations 

 were grown; 1 owner received more than half of his income from 

 business not connected with his farm ; 24 farms were either operated 

 by hired managers who received a salary or were owned by physicians 

 or other professional men who are not really farmers but who main- 

 tain country homes; finally, there were 3 small truck farms whose 

 owners bought and sold additional truck-crop products. 



A careful examination of the tabulations in the following pages 

 will show that the comparisons on which this bulletin is based could 

 not well be made between the various groups mentioned above. The 

 work is therefore limited to the 378 farms operated by owners who 

 took full part in the work of the farm, except where otherwise noted 

 in the text. 



Brief reference is made to the 27 farms maintaining a hothouse 

 business, and there is also a somewhat extended discussion concerning 

 two of the classes of tenant farms mentioned above. 



SIZE OF FARM AND UTILIZATION OF LAND. 



Table II shows the sizes of farms found in the surveyed area, the 

 number in each size group, and the manner in which the land is 

 utilized. The farms were first grouped into the sizes shown in the 



