UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 602 
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
Washington, D. C. T March 5, 1918 
VALUE OF A SMALL PLOT OF GROUND TO THE 
LABORING MAN. 
A STUDY OF THE FOOD RAISED BY OPERATIVES IN 
SOUTHERN COTTON-MILL TOWNS. 
By W. C. Funk, Scientific Assistant. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Profit and pleasure 1 
The cotton-mill village 2 
Quantity and value of food raised 
by cotton-mill operatives 3 
Page. 
The garden 4 
The poultry 8 
Pigs! 8 
The family cow 9 
A large acreage of land in the United States can be used for agri- 
cultural purposes which is not generally classed as farm land. This 
area includes the numberless backyards and small holdings of less 
than 3 acres within and close by cities and villages. Much of this 
land already is being used for raising food for home consumption, but 
more is lying idle. The importance of utilizing this land is obvious. 
The family raising its food gets it at cost, which, as will be shown 
later, represents only actual cash expenditures. 
Thousands of dollars worth of vegetables are raised in cities and 
villages at very small cost. The work is done by members of the 
consumer's family, with no cash expenditures except for seed and 
fertilizer. The last census reported over one million cows not on 
farms. Many of these are family cows kept by town dwellers to fur- 
nish milk and butter. With cheap pasture available a cow may be 
kept at a profit. The census reports over one million hogs not on 
farms, which indicates that much pork is produced by village and 
city families for home consumption. The number of poultry flocks 
not on farms is not reported, but probably more families keep 
chickens than keep cows or swine. These data show that the idea of 
utilizing small plots of ground for raising food is not a new one and 
emphasize the possibilities yet unrealized. (See pi. 1.) 
11191°— 18— Bull. 602 
