20 A STUDY OF FARM EQUIPMENT IN OHIO. 



A close study of Table IV will reveal striking differences in the 

 investment per acre for different purposes. As a basis for com- 

 paring the individual farms the mean and the average of the data 

 from 21 farms are both included. The mean is obtained by adding 

 together the figures per acre for the 21 farms and dividing by 21, 

 while the average is computed by taking the total investment for 

 the 21 farms and dividing by the sum of their acreages. The mean, 

 then, is an average having the farm as a unit, while the average 

 regards the acre as the unit. These two might vary widely, and the 

 fact that they do not adds to the value of the table. In tliis study 

 of farms the mean is regarded as the more suggestive, since it takes 

 into account the effect of the size of the farm upon the acre invest- 

 ment. 



The range of investment per acre in farm buildings is seen to be 

 from 67 cents on farm 24, where a very old barn and several equally 

 old sheds, etc., constituted the building equipment, to $32.25 for 

 farm 25, where the value of a small barn and poultry house is divided 

 by a small acreage. The investment varies with the condition and 

 number of buildings, but the number and cost do not vary with the 



acreage. 



Farms 13 to 17 are similar in character and location, yet the 

 building equipment on farm 13 is $11.35 per acre, while on Nos. 14 

 to 17, inclusive, the valuation does not reach $5 per acre on any 

 farm. This is due to the fact that farm 13 is really composed of 

 three farms formerly separate. On the other hand, farms 3, 5, 12, 

 18, 19, and 28, ranging in size from 104 to 504 acres, show an invest- 

 ment in farm buildmgs of $15.78 to $26.85 per acre, while farms 7, 

 8, 10, and 30, varying in size from 49.61 to 100 acres, have an invest- 

 ment in farm buildings of but $6.33 to $12.70 per acre. 



In household buildings (dwellings) there is a variation fi'om $4.07 

 to $46.09 per acre. The 21 farms as a whole have practically the 

 same investment in farm buildings and in household buildings ($10.59 

 and $10.16, respectively), but among the 30 farms wide extremes are 

 represented. Farms 4, 12, 18, 19, 20, and 28 show two to three times 

 as great an acre investment ($12.07 to $24.40) in farm buildings as in 

 household buildings ($6.20 to $11.46), while on farms 8, 21, 23^ 24, 

 29, and 30 the mvestment in household buildings ($5.39 to $31.64) 

 is two to five times as great as in farm buildings ($3.16 to $12.70 per 

 acre). 



No particular need is apparent for such a wide variation in prac- 

 tice, and on a number of the most successful farms the investment in 

 household and farm buildings is about equal. On farm 24, with a 

 farm-building investment of $0.67 per acre and a household-budd- 

 ing investment of $5.39 per acre, a new barn was to be erected within 

 a year or two which would bring about nearly the same relative 



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