Farm Types in Nebraska 
THE WESTERN EDGE OF 16C-ACRE FARMING 
In 1880 the 160-acre farm was common as far west as 
northwestern Missouri, central Iowa, and southwestern Wis- 
consin. A study of figure 19 will show that the 160-acre lines 
remained almost stationary in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa 
for a period of thirty years. The great expansion during the 
period between 1880 and 1910 took place to the west, north, 
and south of this strip of country. Barring soil effects, the 
western edge of quarter-section farming follows very closely 
a normal annual precipitation of from 31 to 32 inches. (See 
Fig. 18.) In eastern Kansas the 160-acre lines are usually 
found in counties having from 35 to 40 inches of rainfall. 
Jt is here that the “flint hill section” holds the 160-acre lines 
to the east. In Texas the 160-acre farm advanced much 
farther south than west. The westward advance against a 
decreasing rainfall was scarcely greater than that taking 
place in the states to the north. 
TWO-SECTION FARMING 
The principal factors affecting the size of farm in the 
drier parts of the Great Plains can best be introduced thru 
a study of the 1,280-acre lines. (See Fig. 23 and also Figs, 
24, 25, 26, and 27.) Between 1880 and 1910, two-section 
farming in South Dakota moved from a country having 24 
inches of rainfall to one having but 16 inches. In central 
Texas during the same period this size of farm occupied the 
strip of country lying between the 21 and the 26 inch rain- 
fall lines. While 1,280-acre farming in South Dakota ad- 
vanced thru approximately an 8-inch decrease in rainfall, 
it advanced thru only about 5 inches in central Texas. The 
slower advance against rainfall in the south can be attributed 
largely to two factors, namely, greater evaporation and some- 
what slower development of country. Of the factors men- 
tioned, evaporation appears to have the greater influence. 
In North Dakota and Texas the 1,280-acre lines make 
a fairly regular advance during each ten-year interval fol- 
lowing 1880. In contrast with these regular movements, 
