stock industry. Some of the livestock iarms, espe- 

 cially in the Bluegrass region, are showplaces devel- 

 oped by capital gained through means other than 



farming. 



Fk.I're 7.— Kentucky ranks second among tobacco proclucing 

 States. 



The area of cropland increased during the settle- 

 ment period to a peak of more than 14 million acres 

 in 1910. However, during the past 40 years more 

 than 2 million acres have reverted to woodland, un- 

 improved pasture, idle land, oi other noncrop use 

 (fig. 8). 



Kentucky's rough topography greatly limits culti- 

 vation. The 1950 Census of Agriculture found that 

 about 36 percent of the area in farms was left in 

 pasture and about 7 percent was idle. Woodland 

 grazing is common throughout the State, but it is 

 most common in the Bluegrass region where more 

 than 40 percent of the forest area is heavily grazed. 

 If heavy grazing is continued, the torest cover will 

 eventually be eliminated. 



Kentucky has many small farms, especially in the 

 mountains where only narrow ridgetops and valley 

 bottoms are tillable. According to the 1950 Census 

 of Agriculture only three States had more farms 

 less than 10 acres in area than Kentucky. Partly be- 

 cause of this small size, the cash income per farm 

 is low. In 1949 the average income per farm in Ken- 



tucky was about $2,500. This is less than half the 

 average farm income for the Nation as a whole. 



Because of this low farm income and because of 

 local custom, many farmers work part time at some 

 nonfarm occupation. In 1950 nearly one-fifth of the 

 farmers in Kentucky worked 100 days or more off 

 the farm. In the Eastern Coal Field region espe- 

 cially, many rtual dwellers are primarily miners 

 or loggers. But they are also part-time farmers, 

 thereby meeting the Census Bureau definition of a 

 fai m operator. In general, these workers expect only 

 a bare subsistence from the land; they depend upon 

 work in the mines, the woods, or sawmills to supply 

 cash income for the family. Although the popida- 

 tion of this region is too great for the work avail- 

 able, many of the people do not wish to leave their 

 mountain country. 



In spite of the need for supplemental cash inccme 

 and the fact that 25 percent of the farm area is 

 growing timber, it appears that few farmers are 

 making their woodlands contribute adequately to 

 their cash income. For example, in 1949, according 

 to the Census of Agriculture, Kentucky farmers got 

 an average cash return of about 65 cents per acre 

 of farm woodland. However, farmers cut for their 

 own use fuelwood, posts, and other products worth 

 scA'eral times this amount every year. 



M'ueyaJs and Mining 



In 1950 Kentucky produced about 460 million 

 dollars worth of minerals. More than 85 percent of 

 Kentucky's mineral income is from coal, most of 

 which is mined in the Eastern Coal Field region. 

 Other minerals produced are oil, rock asphalt, fluor- 

 spar, natural gas, and clay. 



More than 16 million cubic feet of round or split 

 wood were used in 1948 in Kentucky's coal mines. 

 Of this volume, 90 percent was used in the deep 

 mines of the Eastern Coal Field region. Most of this 

 wood is taken from forests near the mines and is cut 

 by the miners or local farmers. Little wood is used 

 in strip-mining operations. 



Manufacturing 



The 1947 Census of Manufactures lists 2,244 man- 

 ufacturing establishments in Kentucky, not includ- 

 ing small sawmills pr(;ducing less than 200 M board 

 feet a year. Of the 130,000 persons employed in 

 manufacturing in 1947, approximately 15 percent 

 were in the primary forest products industries (7). 



Kentucky's Forest Resources and Industries 



