INFLUES'CE OF A CITY OX FAEMING. 



15 



These classifications are shown in Table XI. While farms of the 

 different types differ greatly in the amount of land utilized, there is 

 not so great a difference in the size of the business conducted. The 

 capital invested and the expenses of operation furnish a good basis 

 for comparing the size of business of each type. 



Table XI. — Relation of type of farm to size of business and labor income. 



Type of farm. 



Number of 

 records. 



Acres of 



improved 



land. 



Value of 



capital 



invested. 



Total 

 operating 

 expenses 

 per farm. 



Labor 

 income. 





39 



270 

 205 

 192 

 62 



$34,700 

 27,782 

 35,000 

 20,000 



$3,667 

 3,686 

 3,715 

 3,950 



$126 



Dairy 



Potato 



Potato-truck 



All farms 



22 



11 

 24 



441 

 333 



1,350 



96 



195 



30, 0S4 



3,738 



520 







The potato-truck type of farming is by far the most profitable of 

 the 4 groups. This fact undoubtedly accounts in large part for the 

 tendency toward more intensive farming, as shown by a comparison 

 of census statistics m 1900 and 1910. (See p. 4.) 



It must not be concluded that the potato-truck farms grow only 

 potatoes and truck, or that potato farms grow only potatoes. Other 

 enterprises, such as com, wheat, dairy cows, hogs, and sheep, have a 

 place of more or less importance on most farms of these types. So 

 also many dairy farms and general mixed farms handle enterprises 

 characteristic of the more intensive types. 



In the organization of the more profitable type of farms account 

 must be taken of location with reference to the city, to soil, and trans- 

 portation facilities. As the population of the city increases there will 

 be a larger demand for farm products, including truck crops. The 

 climate here allows the production of an early and a late crop of Irish 

 potatoes each year. This condition, combined with excellent facih- 

 ties for stormg and marketing potatoes, makes possible the continued 

 development of the potato-truck type of farming. 



DISTRIBUnON OF CAPITAL ON FARMS OF DIFFERENT TYPES. 



Table XII shows the amount and distribution of capital on the 

 types of farms included in this study.^ Potato-truck farms have the 

 smallest investment both in real estate and in working capital. The 

 investment in machinery and buildings is also lower than that of 

 other types. The dairy farms have the least invested in cash to run 

 the farm. In dairy farming money comes in at short intervals, so 

 that comparatively Httle need be kept on hand to meet expenses. 



1 Most of the farms that may be classified as strictly "truck farms" are south of the city along the 

 Ohio River on the sandy loam soils. Because there is not much demand in this section for suburban 

 residence property, and because there still remains a good deal of undeveloped and unoccupied land, <5 

 prices here are relatively low. These facts partly account for the low capitalization of these truck 

 farms. 



