TENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X 529 



FIXASCI^VL RETUBXS TO BE EXPECTED. 



Having planned this farm as a sheep farm and having arranged to 

 handle the flock by a method common on Illinois farms, the returns that 

 may be expected from this type of farming may be considered. The sources 

 of income and the gross returns that may be expected are about as fol- 

 lows: 



136 lambs, at $4 each $344.00 



139 fleeces, at $1.50 each 208.50 



2 colts, at $50 each 100.00 



2 calves, at $5 each 10.00 



Total returns $862.50 



These returns are not particularly attractive, though nearly double 

 what the farm is now paying. They hardly pay wages and interest on 

 the investment. Had the owner not done some such preliminary figuring 

 as here recorded, he might have gone into the sheep business somewhat 

 along the usual lines, as outlined above, to his considerable disappoint- 

 ment. 



PASTURAGE EESP0XSII5LE FOR LOW RETURNS. 



An examination of the crop acreages required to support this flock 

 of 139 sheep indicates the reasons for the comparatively low returns from 

 this type of farming. Comparatively low-priced crops are grown. More 

 than half the farm is in pasture. One-fourth of it is in hay. This is too 

 large a proportion of high-priced land in cheap crops for profit. 



There are other types of sheep farming much Ijetter adapted to this 

 high-priced land. If a four-year rotation of corn, oats, hay, and pasture 

 were adopted, only half the number of sheep kept, and the surplus grain 

 and hay sold, the income would be increased from $862.50 to $1,045. 



Again, if a four-year rotation of (1) corn, (2) corn, (3) oats, and (4) 

 clover for hay were adopted, cowpeas sow-n in one cornfield at the time of 

 planting, rape sown in the other at the time of laying by the corn, the 

 first crop of clover cut for hay and the second used for pasture, and a 

 good quality of western lambs bought in September at the average Chi- 

 cago price for the past five years ($5.87) and pastured on the clover, cow- 

 peas, rape, and standing corn, then fed clover bay and corn until Febru- 

 arry and sold at the average Chicago price for the past five years ($7.44), 

 the income from the farm after deducting the usual expenses for freight, 

 commission, etc., would be about $2,065. This increased return is due 

 primarily to the fact that three-fourths of the farm each year is in grain, 

 while during the latter part of the season practically the whole farm 

 is used for pasture. This system of sheep farming, besides taking more 

 than $2,500 extra capital for purchase of lambs, requires executive ability 

 of a high order. It serves, however, to bring out the value of studying 

 carefully the type of farming one is following for profit. 



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