REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 75 



INVESTIGATIONS IN FARM MANAGEMENT. 



This important work will be grouped under four principal heads: 

 (1) Studies of farm practice; (2) cost accounting and farm records; 

 (3) farm equipment; and (4) farm problems, or extension work. 

 In the studies of farm practice, much additional information has 

 been secured concerning the relation of farm practice to crop yield, 

 the relation of methods of tillage to crop yield and to soil and labor 

 conditions, and the relation of cropping systems and methods of 

 tillage to weed control. Particular attention has been given to the 

 relation of crops to the general distribution of labor on the farm. 

 An important phase of the work of farm management has to do with 

 the problems of the farmer or the application of all the data secured 

 to the individual farm. From most of these farms similar records 

 were secured last year. These records show the cost of every kind 

 of farm operation under widely varying conditions of management. 

 They also show the dates at which all work is done and the number 

 of men and horses required to perform each operation economically, 

 and hence they are of great value in formulating working plans for 

 farms. A careful study has been made of the capital invested, the 

 elements of cost, and the sources aiid amount of income on all farms 

 in several representative townships in three Middle Western States. 

 These studies give important information on the types of farming 

 best adapted to that section, the relation of successful management 

 to the training and education of the farmer, the average percentage 

 of proJ&t on the investment, the relation of profit to the seasonal 

 distribution of labor, and many other important problems connected 

 with the organization and conduct of the business of the farm. 



Studies of the character and cost of all phases of farm equipment 

 and the distribution of capital among the elements of equipment, 

 such as land, buildings, fences, live stock, and implements and ma- 

 chinery, have been conducted on a large number of farms in several 

 widely separated localities. In connection with the studies of cost 

 accounting and farm records, investigations have been made of all 

 the operations on a large number of farms. The reorganization and 

 redirection of agi'iculture in the various sections of the country is 

 a task calling not only for broad knowledge of the sciences which 

 are fundamental in agriculture, but also for an intimate knowledge 

 both of farm practice and of the problems confronting the farmer 

 in any given section. Changes in farm practice in many localities 

 are imperative for the good of the farmer as well as for the general 

 welfare. In many places the practice of unwise methods has resulted 

 in marked decrease in the yielding power of the soil. In nearly all 

 of the older States there is a noticeable decrease in rural population. 

 The growth of urban population and the development of transpor- 



