RURAL ECONOMICS 



1671 



Tablf: TV — Returns from the different groups of farms, arranged according 

 to the intensity of cultivation. 



Group 



Working 



expenses 



+ interest 



per acre 



Net 



profit per 



acre 



of interest 



Economic 

 Emplacement 



Percentage 



of farms yielding 



an interest 



of more than 



4 per cent 



Table V. — Returns from the different groups of farms, arranged according 

 to the percentage of total returns that is derived, from crops. 



turn. Thi.? is particularly noticeable on the two farms which yield the 

 largest profit On farm No. 2, the gross return per acre was 75.S higher than 

 that on farm Xo. i, while the cost of labour was 316- per acre more. On 

 farm No. 2 the crops provided 80 per cent of the total yield, whereas in No. 

 I the}' only made up 55 per cent. As such different methods of organisation 

 give similar economic results it is very difficult to .specify the best types of 

 farm for a gi\'en district, and any classification that is attempted is open to 

 criticism. Nevertheless it is clearlj- evident from the diagram that the gross 

 return per acre decreases with the profit-making capacity. This is shown 

 still more clearly by the average figures for groups of 10 farms, given in 

 Table III, where the gross return per acre falls from £ 13 6s in group I to 

 £ 8 12 s in group VII. This proves that the lower profit-making cai)acity is 

 directly connected with the lower production per unit area. Com])aring 

 the best group with the worst the net return per acre fell from £ 4 T2.s to 



