INFLUENCE OF A CITY ON FAEMING. 



11 



On the smaller farms nearer the city the farm practice is entirely 

 different. About all the tillable area of these farms is planted in 

 field or truck crops, a very small percentage being left for pasture. 

 Much of the land is double-cropped. These farms near the city are 

 smaller in size than those 10 to 20 miles out. The size of the busi- 

 ness conducted on many of them is large, however, owing to more 

 intensive cultivation. These farms show greater diversity than the 

 big farms, and the crops require much more labor and fertilizer per 

 acre. These factors are well illustrated in Table VI. 



The truck gardeners generally keep something growing on the land 

 all the year. Kale and spinach are favorite winter crops. Some of 

 the crop may be marketed in the late fall and early spring, and the 

 remainder is turned under. Rye is commonly sown to be turned 

 under for a late crop of potatoes. 



RELATION OF DISTANCE FROM CITY TO TYPE OF FARMING. 



The farm records taken were distributed as evenly as possible over 

 the county and no thought was given to the selection of any particular 

 type of farm. For this reason the farms at different distances from 

 the city wiU represent fairly well average conditions. Mention should 

 be made, however, of one factor which interferes to some extent with 

 a study of farms grouped according to distance from the city. As 

 previously stated, a strip of land extending 20 or more miles south 

 along the Ohio River is almost wholly utilized for trucking, so that 

 for this area the factor of soil has a predominating influence. Table 

 VII would indicate, nevertheless, that distance from the city has an 

 important influence on the type of farming. Truck crops (except as 

 influenced by the factor just mentioned) and potatoes are dominant 

 enterprises near the city. Receipts from such field crops as corn, 

 wheat, hay, hogs, and stock cattle are grouped in the table under the 

 head "Receipts, per cent, from other sources." These enterprises 

 are characteristic of general mixed farming, and become more im- 

 portant as the distance from the city increases. Dairying also be- 

 comes more important as distance from the city increases. 



Table VII. — Relation of distance from city to type of farm. 





Number of 

 records. 



Size of 

 farm. 



Rent of 



land per 



acre. 



Receipts, per cent. 



Distance from Louisville. 



From 

 truck and 

 potatoes. 



From 

 dairy. 



From 



other 



sources. 



Smiles or less 



25 

 18 

 24 

 33 



103 

 221 

 256 

 257 



811.85 

 5.59 

 5.37 

 4.66 



68 

 35 

 34 

 20 



10 

 12 

 20 

 27 



22 



9 to 11 Tnilps 



53 



12 to 14 miles 



46 





53 







All farms 



100 



211 



6.80 



38 



18 



44 







