In 1940, Iowa had 213,318 farms and 236,741 rural-farm dwelling units.² These dwellings represented 32.6 percent of the state's total dwellings and housed 36.1 percent of the state's population. They were valued in that year at approximately 350 million dollars, representing 24.7 percent of the value of all dwellings in the state, 44.4 percent of the total value of farm buildings, including dwellings, and 13.1 percent of the total value of farm land and buildings.³ These measures indicate the size of the economic area which this bulletin discusses.