^2 A STUDY OF FARM EQUIPMENT IN OHIO. 



not been extended to the dwellings. Gasoline engines used only for 

 pumping add to the investments on farms 10, 12, and 13, with the 

 acre valuation for water supply of $3, $1,75, and $1.77 per acre, 

 respectively. 



The live-stock inventory, like that of produce, supplies, etc., 

 should be taken on the same date for all farms in order to be com- 

 parable. This fact is brought out strikingly by farm 12. The inven- 

 tory in 1908 showed $1,700 worth of steers on hand, or nearly $11 

 per acre for this class of stock alone. Several days previous to the 

 1909 mventory 39 head were sold, hence this farm, which is usually 

 heavily stocked with cattle, shows a lower acre investment ($16.02) 

 than its average for the year. The inventory of live stock, even if 

 taken on the same date each year for all farms, would not show the 

 average investment accurately, as on some farms feeding stock are 

 purchased, fed, and marketed between succeeding dates of inventory. 

 This would entail the investment of a considerable amount of capital 

 for the greater part of the year which would not be apparent in a 

 study of inventories. The study of investment in live stock can best 

 be made in connection with Table VIII (p. 27) which shows the 

 relative importance of the various live-stock enterprises. 



With the exception of 4 farms the acre investment in machinery, 

 wagons, harness, tools, etc., ranges within comparatively narrow 

 limits (from $2.87 for farm 13 to $7.56 for farm 28.) The four excep- 

 tions are farm 22 (acre valuation $2.22), for which much of the 

 machinery was borrowed; farm 24 (acre valuation $1.17), for which 

 macliinery was generally bought second hand; and farms 7 and 

 25 (valuations $12.70 and $14.39), which are low in acreage. With 

 the exception of farms 22, 24, 25, and 28, the total machinery 

 investment per farm is seen by reference to Table III to vary only 

 about 136 per cent, as compared, for instance, to 1,275 per cent 

 for the total value of farm buildings and 835 per cent for household 

 buildings. Two large farms (5 and 14) contaming 342 and 388.92 

 acres, respectively, show low acre investments in machinery ($3.14 

 and $2.87, respectively), while farm 28, the largest, containing 504 

 acres, ranks among the highest, showing an acre investment of $7.56 

 and indicating overequipment. 



The total and percentage of investment per acre in real and per- 

 sonal property is given in Table V, together with the mean and 

 average for the group of 21 farms. The odd cents shown m the 

 values of the real estate are due to the fractional parts of an acre 

 in the farm areas, these usually being disregarded by the farm 

 owners. The land with improvements is seen to range from $27.48 

 to $146.57 per acre, though nearly all farms are valued considerably 

 higher than the State average as shown by the Twelfth Census, viz, 

 $42.33 per acre. The amount of personal property per acre, $7.73 



