FARM MANAGEMENT IN CATAWBA COUNTY, N. C. 3 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF AREA. 
Catawba County, N. C, is near the center of the western or more 
elevated half of the Piedmont region of the State. Newton, at the 
C3nter of the area surveyed, is about 150 miles west of Raleigh and 
about 75 miles east of Asheville. The surface of the region is rolling, 
the elevation varying from about 700 feet to about 1,100 feet (fig. 1). 
A fringe of rich bottom lands, varying in width from only a few 
rods to a half mile, borders the important streams. When properly 
drained these lands produce large yields of corn, small grains, and 
grasses, and where the elevation is sufficient they make good yields 
of cotton. Between the bottom lands and the uplands are a series 
Fig. 1. — Map showing location of area studied. 
of slopes. When erosion is prevented by deep plowing and careful 
terracing, these slopes produce good yields. The steeper slopes in 
many places have become so eroded that their cultivation is difficult 
and unprofitable. 
The uplands, which constitute by far the greater part of the area 
surveyed, are more or less rolling, free from steep slopes and bluff 
formations, and show but few outcropping ledges and bowlders. 
Modern farm machinery can be used to advantage over nearly all 
these lands. All crops common to the central Piedmont region of 
the South are grown more or less extensively and successfully. Most 
of the better class of farm homes are located on these lands (figs. 2, 3, 
and 4) . 
The climate, fairly mild and equable, is suitable for the growing of 
a large varietv of farm crops. Extremes of temperature are almost 
