DA BULLETIN 1421, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
As in most good farming communities, some of the farms studied 
were operated by owners, some by men who owned part and rented 
part of the land they operated, and some by tenants. In the case 
of rented farms the capital, receipts, and expenses of the tenants 
and landlords were combined. The records were then used on the 
owner-farm basis. 
GENERAL CROP FARMS 
The general crop farms as here classified are those devoted largely 
to the production of the field crops common to the district studied 
and carrying little productive livestock. They varied in size from 
17 to 345 acres in 1919 and from 20 to 240 acres in 1920, 1921, and 
1922. The most frequent sizes are 40-acre, 80-acre, and 20-acre, 
respectively, in the order named. The smaller farms are generally 
located near the towns, and their value per acre was usually estimated 
a little higher than that of the larger bicnis: 
UTILIZATION OF LAND 
Table 4 shows the average size of the general crop farms and how 
the farm land was utilized during each of the four years of the study. 
During this period the average size of farm varied less than 3 acres, 
and the average acreage of tillable land, the crop land, and the land 
in pasture changed but little. These shght variations in the size of 
the farm are mainly due to the fact that a few farms were dropped 
each year and records from others were obtained to replace them. 
Table 4 also shows the average acreage devoted to the respective 
crops each year. ‘The major crops are listed in the order of their 
importance when measured by acres per crop. The acreage devoted 
to the several crops varied considerably from year to year. These 
variations were far moré striking on the individual farms and reflect 
the efforts of farmers to shift to the most profitable crops. 
TABLE 4.—Utilization of land on general crop farms 1919-1922 
Item 1919 | 1920 1921 | 1922 
ces Mee ee 
Harms! studied, numbers. 2 = eee ee eee 190 | 178 169 | 67 
Acres | Acres Acres | Acres 
Size offarms ©. 2< 522s a ee ee ee eee 74. 2 | 72. 2 72.0 74.7 
Pillable lands ss 820s ate ee | 67.4 | 66. 0 66.3 | 69. 2 
Crop) at Cas fs es ea A a, Soa ae 63. 0 | 61.7 61.4 | 63. 5 
idlet\crop land =3422=2 ee ee 40 .3 -5 .0 
Cropland Trentediout= = See =0 .0 0 | 2. 0 
IPASTUTG ies a Se ee sare ee eee 4.0 4.0 3.9 | 3.7 
Pasture not tillable <2. 2.0 1.1 |- 1.0 6 
Other dan Gee eee eS aerate ee 4.8 5.1 4.7 4.9 
Use of erop land: Acres| P. ct.| Acres| P. ct.| Acres| P. ct.| Acres| P. ct. 
WW Gs oe 2 a ge ep er 28.2 | 44.8 | 24.5 | 39.7 | 21.7 | 35.4 | 18.8 29. 6 
A fall fam 2 == ne 2 un le Te ree ae gene eee 12.9 | 20.5 | 15.9 | 25.8 | 15.3 | 24.9 | 12.6 19.8 
H BY 12) 0 hayek Spel ES Dies SN nen epee ae ee Ce Sk 0, Ox) We 3, 5. OSs | ONGameo. Osc Ome eee) 
Potatoes = 3222 Sosa. Os Bees ee ee 25) 40] 27; 44) 46) 75) 80) 12.6 
Sugar. beets. cas2e- ee eee ee AT Mok EAL fedetic nO. | Oo a eatee 3.3 
Red: clovers-2 ee ee ee ee eee 19h 3207s 224 le 38298) 5 AAS: 8 eeGab 9.6 
Alsikesclovers= 2% 24 Sees ee ee of .8 Fi fey oe ei ip 1. 82h 5 dd 1.9 
Barley 223 2 ee ae ee ee LeBel 928 ol aS lie ee al penal. -5 .8 
Oats Sr BE EE eae ee aera eae a oe Se, .8 TES} 7, it 3 .5 =o .5 
COrnse 2 Ss ee eS oF a ai .8 3H 72 21:0 Ba oe ene On fag bat Fs 2.0 
Fruif and garden: -—— = Se [932 Qe 17a 2 BP 8G" ee: OM PPL 2.4 
O$HEr. GEO DS sac eee ee ee he Bey: 33 5 23 se ath -3 3) ~5 
| 
' Land occupied by roads, fences, buildings, corrals, canals, ditches, and land not used for pasture or 
crop production. 
