12 
BULLETIN 678, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
These facts relative to the type of farming have an important rela- 
tion to the value of land and the size of farm, as is indicated also in 
this table. Farms increase in size and the rent per acre decreases as 
the distance from the city increases. 
The lesson to be learned from these facts is that close proximity to 
a large growing city tends to make it more profitable to grow truck 
crops which can be marketed fresh to the consumers in the city than 
the staple crops characteristic of general farming and supplying a 
wide market. The nearer a location is to the city the more valuable 
the land becomes, because it is demanded for dwelling, factory, and 
transportation sites, etc., in competition with agriculture. On high- 
priced land none but intensive agriculture will pay. Because land is 
more valuable near the city, and since a large farm business may 
be conducted on a small piece of land, the farms tend to be smaller 
near the city. 
Frequently a farmer owning a comparatively large tract of land, 
300 to 400 acres, finds the city growing towards him, increasing year 
by year the value of his land. With this increase in value of land goes 
an increase in costs of production. Unless the farmer changes his 
type of farming to meet these conditions his business can not be made 
to yield interest on the increased capitalized value and a profit in 
addition. Under such conditions the farmer usually sells all or a 
part of his land to be divided into smaller tracts, either for dwelling 
and industrial sites or for smaller farms operated more intensively. 
THE SMALL, INTENSIVE FARMS NEAR THE CITY ARE THE MOST PROFITABLE. 
With intensive farming and higher production per acre the farmer 
is enabled to carry on a good-sized business on a small-sized farm. 
In fact, in this study no relation appeared between the size of the 
farm and the size of the business conducted. The capital invested 
in the average large farm did not differ materially from that invested 
in the small intensive farm. (See Table VIII.) 
Table VIII. — Relation of size of farm to operating expenses per acre and to land earnings 
per acre. 
Size of farm. 
Number 
of farms. 
Distance 
to Louis- 
ville. 
Average 
area of 
improved 
land. 
Operat- 
ing ex- 
pense 
per acre. 
Gross 
receipts 
per acre. 
Land 
earnings 
per acre, a 
Labor 
income. 
Profit on 
invest- 
ment. 
Acres. 
Less than 80 6 
80 to 159 
21 
25 
33 
21 
Miles. 
9 
12 
13 
16 
Acres. 
44 
121 
212 
420 
$73 
36 
15 
14 
$96 
45 
20 
18 
$23 
9 
5 
4 
SI, 000 
800 
100 
140 
Per cent. 
7 
5.6 
160 to 299 
4 
300 and over 
4 
All farms 
100 
199 1 32 
42 
10 
a Land earnings per acre as here used is what is left after paying all operating expenses, which include 
all current expenses, 6 per cent interest on working capital, and the farmer's estimate of the value of his 
labor and services as manager, amounting for the average farm to about $600. Land earnings would be 
then approximately what the landlord might expect as rent. 
b Improved land." 
