UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 633 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
February 25, 1918 
FACTORS OF SUCCESSFUL FARMING NEAR 
MONETT, MO. 
By W. J. Spillman, Chief, Office of Farm Management. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
The area in the survey was made 1 
The local agriculture 2 
Farms classified according to type of farming. 4 
Sources of receipts 5 
Percentage of area in different crops 5 
Kinds of fruit and their local importance 6 
Relation of type of farming to size of farm 7 
Investment 7 
Profitableness of the various types 8 
Page. 
The proper status of the strawberry industry 
in southwest Missouri 10 
The speculative nature of fruit enterprises. . . 10 
Maintenance of soil fertility 12 
Organization of some typical farms 14 
Organization of dairy farms 17 
A well-organized two-man farm 19 
Legumes 22 
Tenure 24 
THE AREA IN WHICH THE SURVEY WAS MADE. 
During the summer of 1915 an analysis was made of the business 
of 274 farms lying within a radius of about 5 miles of the town of 
Monett, in southwestern Missouri, 1 the center of the survey area lying 
in the line between Barry and Lawrence Counties. This locality is 
typical of a considerable area lying along the western margin of the 
Ozark area and the eastern margin of the western prairies. In gen- 
eral, the highest uplands were originally prairie and the slopes and 
bottom lands timbered. 
The surface would be described, for the most part, as gently roll- 
ing. A small stream flows from east to west through the town of 
Monett. The bottom lands bordering it form a tract from a quarter 
to a half mile wide, flanked on each side by a moderate rise of land 
hardly prominent enough to be described as bluffs. Beyond is gently 
rolling upland originally covered, for the most part, with blackjack 
timber (a species of oak) and extending back to the prairie areas 
covering the ridges between streams.' 
1 The farm analyses on which this bulletin is based were made by Messrs. Walter J. 
Tubbs, Ivan Allen, C. E. Allred, and F. D. Crum, under the direction of Mr. F. H. 
Branch. Mr. R. D. Jennings- has rendered material assistance in tabulating the data 
and computing the tables. Acknowledgment is also due to the many farmers who kindly 
furnished details concerning their farm business, thus making this study possible. 
18027°— 18— Bull. G33- 
