FARMING LOGGED-OFF UPLANDS IX WESTERN WASHINGTON. 25 
The poultry farms in this section should have land enough to 
maintain a cow for the family use and possibly a horse in addition 
to that needed by the flock. Seventeen of the largest poultry farms 
in this area, with an average of 1,000 laying hens, had 11 acres of 
land, 8 of which were cleared. This seems to be a very desirable size 
for a commercial poultiy farm in this area. In order to insure 
poultry-yard sanitation, enough acreage is necessary to allow chang- 
ing the runs at least every two or three years. 
Fruit farms require a little more land than poultry farms. The 
12 largest small-fruit farms in this section had an average area of 16 
acres, with 9 cleared. From 5 to 10 acres seems to De the most 
practical size for a small-fruit farm where the owner attempts to do 
all of his work, except during the picking season. 
Attention to soil management on these upland farms can not be 
too strongly emphasized. Deficiency of plant food and organic mat- 
ter, together with insufficient moisture conditions, often results in 
complete crop failure on these lands. Frequent, shallow cultivation 
seems to be the most effective method of conserving the soil mois- 
ture, while green-manure crops (clover and grass, or rye and vetch) 
and animal manure are the cheapest means of increasing the organic 
matter of the soil. 
Standardization of products is as necessary to the successful 
farmer as to the successful manufacturer. Not only will the stand- 
ardization of farm products create a public confidence in what the 
farmer has to sell, but it will stabilize the demand for such products. 
Standardization of grades of eggs as to color, quality, and size and 
the predominance of one breed of poultry (White Leghorns) have 
been largely responsible for the commercial recognition of the poultry 
industry in this section. 
Since the fruit canneries furnish one of the principal markets for 
the small fruits in this section, varieties which are most desirable for 
canning should be chosen by those who intend to supply this market. 
For this purpose, the following varieties have been most successful: 
Marshal strawberries, Cuthbert raspberries, Evergreen blackberries 
Oregon Champion gooseberries. 
Records of farm facts classified by enterprises are an important 
guide to management which farmers in this area, in common with 
most farmers everywhere neglect to their disadvantage. Farmers 
do not need to go into all the complexities of complete cost account- 
ing, but they do seriously need simple records of the main factors of 
their business operations as a basis for making adjustments in the 
amount of land, labor, and materials applied to the several lines of 
production and for comparing these with the returns of the different 
lines at the same time and of the same lines at different times. 
Average results have been worked out and published for many dif- 
ferent sets of working conditions and serve as guides in making the 
records and in comparing results. Special record books have been 
devised which materially reduce the clerical work a farmer needs to 
do in order to answer the questions he asks. A few minutes a day 
regularly applied will soon provide a wealth of definite information, 
the value of which can be realized only upon due trial. Records take 
most of the guesswork out of farming. 
