BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 65 



tinued until the freight rates and cost made them prohibitive. In 

 almost every instance they have proven beneficial when properly 

 applied, one striking exception being on a farm east of Maroa, Illinois, 

 where the soil map, when it became available, disclosed the fact that 

 the phosphate content was already adequate. 



The record soon showed that the operation of the small farm of 

 forty to eighty acres was top-heavy for both landlord and tenant, as 

 the buildings, equipment and other upkeep furnished by the one, and 

 the lack of opportunity to use to good advantage the horses, machinery, 

 etc., supplied by the other, was a bad bargain both ways. The net 

 returns per acre were too low to be a paying investment, and the 

 tenant could not make a satisfactory return for his labor after paying 

 the rent and his expenses. The small outlying tracts were then sold, 

 as opportunity offered, and where small farms were contiguous they 

 were consolidated; so that at present the farms range in size from 

 two hundred and forty acres up to more than a section. It might be 

 well to state here that only a small part of this land, less than a 

 section, belongs to me ; and my relation to it, therefore, has been that 

 of a manager, tho a few times I have joined with the tenant in leas- 

 ing and operating some of the larger farms for a time. 



Over a period of years the half of the farm in corn and wheat 

 has paid a satisfactory return ; but the returns from the balance of the 

 farm, taken separately, have not paid. So far, taken as a whole, the 

 corn and wheat have made what in normal times would be considered 

 a fair rate of interest on the inventoried values, as gradually increas- 

 ing yields have been able to keep pace with increasing overhead 

 charges ; but it seems doubtful if this will continue to be the case. 



Fifteen years ago this spring, I undertook the management of 

 another considerable body of land, which differed in its previous his- 

 tory, having been operated as a stock farm. The stock was sold out, 

 and for about seven years the land was operated as a grain farm. 

 Since that time it has been operated on a system of stock and grain 

 farming, a joint interest being reserved in the stock with the tenant, 

 as follows: The crop rotation is similar to that already explained, 

 and a number of sows and ewes are kept for breeding purposes, suf- 

 ficient to pasture the grass land and about three-fourths of the clover. 

 About half of the sows are re-bred for fall litters ; in the late summer 

 or early fall a few stock cattle are bought, and thus a home market 

 is provided for the roughage. These farms are fenced in forty-acre 

 fields, hog tight, and provided with a water system so that any field 

 can be pastured off. 



