UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
% BULLETIN No, 678 j 
Office of the Secretary 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
May 7, 1918 
INFLUENCE OF A CITY ON FARMING. 
[A study of types of farms and their organization in Jefferson County, Ky.] 
By J. H. Arnold, Agriculturist, and Frank Montgomery, Scientific Assistant. 
CONTENTS. 
Object and results 
General conditions 
Seasonal distribution of labor required by 
crops 
Description of farm practice 
Page. 
1 
Page. 
Relation of distance from city to type of farm- 
ing 11 
A comparative study of types of farms 14 
Descriptions of several farms illustrating types 
found in this section 18 
OBJECT AND RESULTS. 
This bulletin gives the results of a study of the agriculture of 
Jefferson County, Ky., a locality which is influenced greatly by a 
moderately large and growing city (Louisville). In response to a 
favorable and increasing market for vegetables, an increasing area 
of land is being utilized for trucking. The raising of such crops as 
potatoes and onions has been profitable, principally on account of 
exceptional marketing facilities. The raising of cereals, while still 
important, has declined. The city offers an expanding market for 
dairy products, but by means of railways and trolleys the city is 
quickly and cheaply reached by dairy farms located a long distance 
out, where cheaper land and other favorable conditions enable the 
farmer to compete successfully in the dairy market. With the 
growth of the city, the extension of trolley lines, and the improve- 
ment of highways, an increasing number of people occupied in the 
city are living in suburban towns and in the near-by country. All 
these factors combined create a set of conditions which bring about 
rapid changes in agricultural practice. Old types of farms once 
dominant are disappearing and new types are organized to profit 
by the opportunities offered. Farms that were once profitable as 
large units, under an extensive system of agriculture, come to be 
48095°— 18— Bull. 678 1 
