1674 RURAL ECONOMICS 



Relation between profit and the relative proportion of crops and livestock. — 

 In Table V the farms are grouped in descending order according to the per- 

 centage of the total yields given by the crops, and in Table VI according 

 to the percentage of the total yields given by the livestock. 



Increase in the percentage of crops sold is nearh^ always followed 

 by increased profit, and there is no indication that a limit has been reached 

 beyond which it would be disadvantageous to pass, but this is not the case 

 with animal products. Two groups have been formed in order to study the 

 second factor which affects the profits ; in group I the profit exceeds 5 per 

 cent., in group II it is less than 5 per cent. Only those farms have been con- 

 sidered in which the return from livestock exceeds 35 per cent of the total 

 return and the chief factors bearing upon milk production have been iso- 

 lated as follows : 



Group A Group B 



Number of farms 10 12 



Rate of interest 6.4 per cent 6.4 per cent 



Economic emplacement 4.2 points 3.8 points 



Value of milk per gallon .... 5 V4 '^ 5 ^2 '^ 

 Degree of productivity i.e. quantity 



of milk per cow, in points (i 



point = 264 galls) 4.3 points 3.8 points 



Gross return per £100 invested in 



livestock £125 i8s £93 2s 



While the farms in group A yield a profit of 6.4 per cent, those in group 

 B yield only 1.4 per cent. This is due to various causes : in group A the milk 

 is worth y^ d per gallon more than it is in group B, while the production of 

 milk per cow is 132 gallons higher ; also the gross return from the livestock 

 is 125.9 P^r c^^t i^ group A, but only 93.1 per cent in group B, the working 

 oxen being about the same in both groups. 



Relation between profits and the relative area under the various crops. — 

 The percentage of the total area occupied by cereals, forage crops (greeu 

 forage, roots etc.) and industrial crop? (sugar beet, potatoes for distilling 

 etc.) has been calculated for most of the farms sttidied. In Table VII the 

 farm are grouped in descending order according to the percentage of the 

 total area occupied bj- each of the three classes of crops. 



The greatest profits are made by the groups of farms having 53 per 

 cent of their area under cereals or 27.2 percent itiider forage crops. If this 

 optimum is exceeded or not reached the rate of interest decreases until a 

 minimum is reached on those farms growing the largest projx)rtion of fo- 

 rage crops and the smallest proportion of cereals. Increase in the area 

 devoted to industrial crops causes the rate of interest to increase steadily, 

 and the maximum profit does not seem to have been reached even in the 

 first group of 10 farms which have 20.2 per cent of their area under these 

 crops. The extension of industrial crops seems to have a direct bearing 

 upon the economic value of the " emplacement " which is a very im 

 portant factor that must not be lost sight of in considering each group. 



