FARM MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF CHESTER COUNTY, PA. 13 



first column, of Table II. It will be observed that the number of 



farms is nearly uniform in the various size groups up to farms of 

 tftO acres. Beyond this the numbers drop off so rapidly that in order 

 to secure numbers sufficient for reliable averages it was necessary to 

 use wider size limits in the groups. The average size of farms in 

 the various groups ranges from 28 acres in the smallest to 203 in the 

 largest, the average of the 378 farms being 90 acres. Of this, 71 per 

 cent is tillable and 61 per cent actually devoted to harvested crops. 

 Ten per cent of the entire farm area is represented by pasture on 

 tillable land, 11 per cent by pasture on untillable land, 9 per cent by 

 woodland, while the remaining 9 per cent represents waste land, 

 roads, building sites, etc. 



Table II. — Size of farms, utilisation of land, value of real estate, percentage of 

 pasture, and crop and pasture area per animal unit, 378 Chester County 

 farms operated by their owners. 



Sizes of farm in acres. 



Num- 



Aver- 



Tilla- 



ber of 



age 



ble 



farms. 



size. 



area. 





Acres. 



Per ct. 



54 



28 



75 



61 



52 



72 



60 



73 



72 



68 



93 



71 



52 



110 



71 



61 



136 



66 



22 



203 



73 



378 



90 



71 



Crop 

 area. 



Tilla- 

 ble pas- 

 ture. 









Value 



Other 



Wood- 



Waste 



of real 



estate 



per 



pasture. 



land. 



land. 









acre. 



Per ct. 



Per ct. 



Per ct. 





9 



5 



11 



8123 



10 



8 



10 



94 



11 



7 



10 



94 



10 



10 



9 



91 



12 



8 



10 



86 



13 



11 



11 



84 



10 



11 



7 



87 



11 



9 



9 



90 



Pas- 

 ture. 1 



13 to 40... 

 41 to 60... 

 61 to 80... 

 81 to 100. . 

 101 to 120. 

 121 to 160. 

 161 to 393. 

 All sizes.. 



Per ct. 

 67 

 62 

 63 

 62 

 60 

 58 

 58 

 81 



Per ct. 



Per ct. 

 21 

 24 

 24 

 23 

 27 

 26 

 29 

 25 



1 Per cent pasture is of total crop and pasture area. 



The proportion of tillable land is approximately the same on farms 

 of all sizes, being somewhat smaller on the larger farms, though in 

 the very largest group it is above the average. The per cent of crop 

 area decreases as the size of farm increases, ranging from 67 per 

 cent of the entire farm in the smallest group to 58 per cent in the 

 largest. The pasture area increases slightly with increase in size of 

 farm, as does also the woodland. The percentage of waste land is 

 about the same on all the groups except the largest, where it is some- 

 what smaller than the average. 



The last column of this table shows the percentage of the combined 

 crop and pasture area consisting of pasture. This increases consid- 

 erably on the larger farms, ranging from 21 per cent to 29 per cent 

 and averaging 25 per cent. 



The preceding column shows the value per acre of the real estate in 

 1911, the year to which this survej^ relates (more accurately, Mar. 

 1, 1911, to Mar. 1, 1912). The average for the entire 378 farms was 

 $90. With the exception of the last group, consisting of the largest 

 farms in the area, there is a gradual and considerable decrease in 



