BULLETIN 941, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
large areas of which are too rough and stony to admit of cultivation 
of crops. The areas more adaptable to cultivation have been in 
farms for many years. As a rule, the operator of a valley or level- 
upland farm has a decided advantage over the operator of the rough 
farm. 
After deducting from their total receipts the year's operating ex- 
penses, including the value of family labor, and allowing 5 per cent 
interest on the capital invested, the operators of rolling and hilly 
farms had in 1917 an average labor income of $309, and those oper- 
ating valley or level-upland farms an average of $646. Of the 79 
farms studied, 20 per cent had no labor income after making the above 
specified deductions from their 
SHADED AREAS INDICATE COUNTIES 
WHERE FARM BUSINESS ANALYSIS 
SURVEY RECORDS WERE OBTAINED'" 
A 
year's receipts, and 21 per cent 
had a labor income above 
$1,000. 
Labor incomes earned by 
typical operators indicate that 
an operator having much less 
than 40 acres of crop land for 
a general live-stock farm has a 
rather poor chance of attaining 
financial success. The labor 
income earned by operators in- 
creased as the size of the farm 
increased. 
Live-stock farming is the 
principal agricultural industry 
of the region. 
The production and sale of 
cream is a growing branch of the 
live-stock industry-. The use of cows for dairy purposes is increasing. 
The average production per cow of 78 cows on dairy farms was 142 
pounds of butter fat. This industry would become more profitable if 
cows of greater productive capacity were introduced. The production 
would also be increased by providing a better balanced feed ration. 
Live-stock losses are a source of considerable expense in operating 
a farm. Losses of live stock on the farms for the year studied were 
as follows: Cattle, 3.6 percent; horses and mules, 3.4 per cent; sheep, 
8.9 per cent; hogs, 10.7 per cent; goats, 11 per cent. 
Pasturage is the foundation of the live-stock industry. The nat- 
ural pastures can be greatly improved by thinning out woodland 
areas, keeping the underbrush down, and sowing tame grasses. 
For greater assurance of live-stock feeds during ■ the summer 
droughts, to which this section is liable, many farmers plant sor- 
ghum, millet, and kafir corn as auxiliary hay crops. On the better 
Fig. 1.— Map showing region studied. 
