G 



CIRCULAR NO. 128, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY, 



A marked difference exists between the two groups in the distribu- 

 tion of capital, however. The better farms liave a much smaller 

 ])art of their total capital in the form of real estate and a ])ropor- 

 tionately larger i)art in working capital of various kinds, including 

 live stock, machinery and tools, grain and feed, and cash to run 

 the business. With their total capital nearly equal, the better farms 

 have 42 per cent more working capital than the poorer farms. Ex- 

 pressed in another way, the better farms have 32.6 per cent of their 

 total capital as working capital and the poorer have only 23.5 per cent 



Fig. 1.— Buildings on a larm in the Suncook ^'alley, N. H. These represent toohirge an investment in 

 buildings for the average farm of the region in which data were obtained. 



in working capital. The latter illustrates quite well the old expres- 

 sion "land poor." This condition is often varied by haAing rela- 

 tively too much money involved in another form of real estate, 

 namely, buildings. Figure 1 illustrates the size and quality of build- 

 ings which are out of proportion to the income from the average 

 farm of these two regions. With a slightly less acreage and a little 

 less total capital the poorer farms still have a larger valuation of 

 real estate. Too exj)ensive buildings are a factor contributing 

 largely to this condition. 



[Cir. li;8] 



