Abstract
This research uses aggregate statistical sources to describe agricultural diversity in a 31 county area of Appalachian Kentucky over the period 1880–1910. In particular, it considers the distribution and duration of forest farming in this region. It examines the causes of agricultural diversity by testing a series of hypotheses conceptually based in ecological theory. For 1880, counties differed in the degree to which they had the characteristics expected for forest farming. This variation was geographically patterned. While there was still geographical variation in county agricultural characteristics in 1910, sufficient change had occurred so that none of the counties continued to closely conform to the pattern expected for forest farming. Variation and change in county agricultural characteristics were found to be related to population density and growth, soil quality, the presence of railroads, and the development of commercial coal mining.
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