62 
SOIL SURVEY OF JACKSON COUNTY 
CHAPTER VII 
AGRICULTURE OF JACKSON COUNTY 
TYPES OF FARMING 
At the present time, the agriculture of the west half of the 
county is partly general, and partly dairying with grain raising 
predominating in certain portions. There appears however 
to be a gradual reduction in grain raising in favor of dairying 
and general farming. There are several reasons why this por¬ 
tion of the county is best suited to dairying, and chief of 
these is that all of the land can be utilized to better advantage. 
When grain growing is followed exclusively it is impossible 
to fully utilize the steep rocky slopes, but when dairying is 
followed these slopes are made use of for they supply good 
grazing. Thus the smooth land and more gentle slopes can 
be used for growing winter feed for the stock, and the pasture, 
which is a very important item to the dairymen, is provided 
by land which in a grain growing program would not be util¬ 
ized. Another factor favoring dairying in this region is that 
the steep slopes can be kept more permanently in grass which 
prevents erosion and the washing away of the surface soil and 
the loss of fertility. 
The agriculture of the county east of the Black River except 
for small areas where the better grades of soil predominate, 
is still largly in an undeveloped state. While centers of farm¬ 
ing have started around the areas of better soil and around a 
few small towns, the majority of the land is still covered with 
brush and is not farmed. This is due in large part to the 
poor quality of the soils. Groups of farms are found near 
Shamrock, Millston, City Point, Pray, and Hatfield, and also 
in the vicinity of Oak Ridge, North Settlement, and Knapp in 
the interior of this part of the county. 
The main crops of the west half of the county where agricul¬ 
ture is highly developed, are the grains and corn and hay 
