The principal crop areas of the country must be defined in terms of the principal money crops rather than in terms of the subsidiary crops. The cotton belt, the corn belt and the spring and fall wheat belts are fairly well defined, provided we observe the above defini tion. There is, for example, scarcely an agri cultural county in the United States in which corn is not grown, but it is grown as the prin cipal money crop in what is known as the corn belt. Wheat is widely grown, but only in re stricted areas as the principal crop. Potatoes are grown as the principal money crop in small areas scattered here and there, such as Aroos took County, Maine, parts of western New York, of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana and Colorado; barley in parts of Wisconsin and California; buckwheat in a few counties in Pennsylvania and New York; hops in a few counties in New York and Wash ington; tobacco in many and widely scattered areas from Louisiana to Vermont, particularly in the Connecticut valley, southern Ohio, east ern Pennsylvania, southern Wisconsin and the border States between the cotton belt and the corn belt.
Turning from field crops to farm animals, we find the hog in greatest numbers in the corn belt, cattle are widely scattered, dairy cattle being found in greatest numbers in the thickly populated States of the east, and beef cattle in the corn States and the contiguous grazing States to the west. Horses are raised in greatest numbers in the corn States, though Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas raise consid erable numbers. Sheep are diminishing in numbers, but are grown in considerable num bers in Ohio, Michigan, Wyoming and the Pacific Coast States.
If one were to describe American agricul ture in terms of the size of the business unit, one would say that the characteristic farm is middle-sized farm, or the one-family farm. That is, it is a farm of such size as can be worked by the labor force of one family, with an occasional hired man, when equipped with the best teams and tools that are to be had. It differs from the small peasant farm of Europe — i La petite culture that it includes a larger area, and because of the larger area makes use of larger teams and tools. The tendency toward this type of farming is grow ing, as shown by the fact that the large farms — those of above 1,000 acres — are diminish ing in number and area, and that the small farms also — those under 100 acres — are di minishing in number. In other words, the ten dency is toward the farm of from 160 to 320 acres. From the standpoint of production, this middle-sized, or one-family farm is the most efficient unit yet discovered in this country. From the trading point of view it is less effi cient than the larger unit. In other words, where the farmer's success depends primarily upon his efficiency in production, the middle sized farm will beat all others in competition. But where the farmer's success depends pri marily upon his efficiency in bargaining, that is, in buying and selling, the large farm has the advantage. In the growing of staple products, for which there is always a well-organized market• where they always sell at a quotable price, the farmer's success will depend more upon his skill as a producer than upon his skill as a bargainer. But in the growing of special ties, which do not sell at a quotable price and for which there is no organized market, the farmer's success will depend more upon his success in selling thanupon his success in pro ducing. This is the field where the large farm has the advantage. In the other field, which is much the larger, the middle-sized farmer more than holds his own in competition with the big farmer.
Bibliography.— Arnold, B. 'Industry in Virginia from 1860-1894) (Baltimore 1897) ; Bailey, Liberty Hyde, 'Cyclopedia of Ameri can Agriculture' (New York 1910-11) ; Ben ton, C., 'A Statistical View of the Number of
Sheep in the Several Towns and Counties of Various States' (Cambridge, Mass., 1837) ; Blodgett, James Harvey, 'Relation of Popula tion to Food Products in the United
(Washington 1903) ; Bogart, E. L., 'Economic History of the United States,' chaps. i, v, ix, xvii, xviii, xxi (New York 1908) ; Bruce, Philip A., 'Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century,' Vol. I, chaps. iv-vii (New York 1896) ; Buck, Solon Justus, 'The Granger Movement' (Cambridge, Mass., 1913) ; Caird, Sir James, 'Prairie Farming in America) (New York 1859) ; Carver, Thomas Nixon,