Figure 5.— Erosion occurring 

 on (I 5-percent slope in 

 Grayson Coimty. Manx 

 areas of Kentucky must be 

 kept under grass or timber 

 cover to prevent erosion 

 sucli as this. 



facturing leads in value of product but agriculture 

 is first in number of workers. Only about 2 percent 

 of the total labor force is engaged in harvesting and 

 processing primary forest products. 



Since 1900 farming has declined in importance 

 while other industries, especially coal mining, have 

 increased. In 1910, more than 450 thousand persons 

 were farming in Kentucky. By 1950, this number 

 had dropped to less than 300 thousand. On the 

 other hand, in 1900 there were less than 10,000 

 miners in the State, but by 1950 this number had 

 increased to about 75,000. 



Although the average income per person in Ken- 

 tucky has been increasing, it is still falling farther 

 and farther behind the national average (fig. 6). 



Agriculture 



In Kentucky 26 percent of the 19.4 million acres 

 in farms is in crops {S).^ The important crop is 

 tobacco (fig. 7). North Carolina is the only State 

 producing more tobacco than Kentucky. In 1949 

 tol)acco from less than one-third of a million acres 

 was w(;rth ]7() million dollars; corn from more than 

 2 million acres was worth only 96 million dollars. 



iMoie than 8 million acres are devoted to pasture 

 and to growing hay for Kentucky's important live- 



12 



s 



1,600 



1,400 



1,200 



,000 



•^ 800 



^ 



8 



^ 



600 



400 



200 



- 



.^^ 





- 



0)/ 



7 -^ 





^ J 



1 /^ 



1 /^ 





>^^ 







1930 



1940 



YEAR 



1950 



1 Italic iiiinibeis in iwrciuhcses refer to Liieraiure Cited, 

 p. 35. 



FicURK 6.— Trend i)i average personal income: United Sliih 

 and Kentucky. 



Forest Resource liejjort Xo. 7. U. .S. Dclxn tincut of Agricultiii'c 



