794 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The relation of capital, income, and expense to profit — Averages of 178 farms. 



Dairy 

 farms. 



General 

 farms. 



Truck ^Iflf^^ 

 '^"^'- f^frms. 



Number of farms 



Total capital invested 



Gross income 



Expense 



Net income per farm 



Farmer's labor income 



Per cent on tlie investment 



67 



$10, 417 



2, .529 



1,318 



1,211 



690 



8.7 



60 

 11,327 

 2, 327 

 1,130 

 1,197 

 631 

 7.9 



6 



$6, 652 

 1,884 

 939 

 945 

 612 

 9.7 



178 



$11, 137 



2, 829 



1,291 



1,538 



981 



11.1 



Following the method of calculation, therefore, it appears " that the average 

 of these farmers, after making interest at 5 per cent, has had the use of a 

 house and such produce as the farm furnished in addition, and has made 

 $081 above all farm expenses and above the value of farm labor done by 

 members of the family other than him,self;" that fruit farming in New York 

 yielded the highest percentage (19.8) and general farming the lowest percent- 

 age (7.9) on the investment; and that the fruit farmers were the best paid 

 men of all classes under consideration. The cost of labor, excluding the 

 owner's labor, ranged from $409 on truck farms to $789 on fruit farms, though 

 the high cost of labor on fruit farms is attributed in part to the extra men and 

 board required at harvesting time. 



ComparL^ons are also made of the various factors on the most successful and 

 least successful of 80 farms taken as a whole, and also when grouped into 28 

 genei-al farms, 40 dairy farms, and 18 fruit farms. These data show that the 

 average percentage " of iirofit for the 8(5 farms was 12.8 per cent. For the poor- 

 est class it averaged but 5.8 per cent, while for the best class the average was 

 19.1 per cent. One of the first facts to be observed is that in every comparison 

 the total acreage, arable acreage, and the capital of the best farms is con- 

 siderably larger. 



" The income on the most profitable farms averages about double that of the 

 least profitable farms, but the expenses are about the same. The better farmers 

 seem to have secured their greater profits not l)y spending less but by taking 

 in more. 



" In regard to the distribution of the capital, we find that the best farms 

 uniformly have the largest real estate value and much larger machinery and 

 implement, horse and other live stock values, which emphasizes the need of a 

 larger capital. Expense for seed and feed is somewhat larger on the best 

 farms on an average, but higher on dairy farms than on the others. The best 

 farms spent nearly twice as much for fertilizers and considerably more for 

 machinery and repairs and buildings and fences. The most profitable farms 

 had $76 greater labor expense than the least profitable." 



The greatest factor in the citrus industry (Cal. Cult., 34 (1910), No. S, p. 

 227). — This is an account of the conditions surrounding the citrus industry in 

 California prior to the formation of the Southern California Fruit Exchange in 

 October, 1895, and a brief account of this organization up to March, 1905. when 

 its name was changed to the California Fruit Growers' Exchange and its sphere 

 of activity enlarged to include practically the whole of Califoi-nia. 



The business methods and the amount of business transacted by the society 

 are described. Its success is shown by the fact that for three years the gross 

 sales amounted to $51,442,168.01, the losses on which amounted to only .$391.45. 

 " On the old basis the fruit commission men charged 5 per cent for guaranteeing 

 sales. The saving to the fruit men thus amounts to $2,571,716.98 in these three 

 years by the new method of marketing." 



