UNITED STATES DEPARTI\IENT OF AGRICULTURE 



j\J^<^^U 



BULLETIN No. 678 



Office of the Secretary 



Contribution from tlie Office of Farm Management 



W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 





Washington, D. C. 



May 7, 1918 



INFLUENCE OF A CITY ON FARMING. 



[A study of types of farms and their organization in Jefferson County, Ky.] 



By J. H. Arnold, Agriculturist, and Frank Montgomery, Scientific Assistant. 



CONTENTS. 



Object and results 1 



General conditions 2 



Seasonal distribution of labor required by 



crops 7 



Description of farm practice 10 



Relation of distance from city to type of farm- 

 ing 11 



A comparative study of types of farms 14 



Descriptions of several farms illustrating types 

 found in this section 18 



OBJECT AND RESULTS. 



This bulletin gives the results of a study of the agriculture of 

 Jefferson County, Ky., a locahty which is influenced greatly by a 

 moderately large and growing city (Louisville). In response to a 

 favorable and increasing market for vegetables, an increasing area 

 of land is being utilized for trucking. The raising of such crops as 

 potatoes and onions has been profitable, principally on account of 

 exceptional marketing facilities. The raising of cereals, while still 

 important, has declined. The city offers an expanding market for 

 dairy products, but by means of railways and trolleys the city is 

 quickly and cheaply reached by dairy farms located a long distance 

 out, where cheaper land and other favorable conditions enable the 

 farmer to compete successfully in the dairy market. With the 

 growth of the city, the extension of trolley lines, and the improve- 

 ment of highways, an increasing number of people occupied in the 

 city are living in suburban towns and in the near-by country. All 

 these factors combined create a set of conditions which bring about 

 rapid changes in agricultural practice. Old types of farms once 

 dominant are disappearing and new types are organized to profit 

 by the opportunities offered. Farms that were once profitable as 

 large units, under an extensive system of agriculture, come to be 



48095°— 18— Bull. 678 1 



