CHAPTER XXXVI 



BUSINESS ASPECTS OF FARMING 



Know that with a farm as with a man, however productive it may be, if it 

 has the spending habit, not much will be left over. CATO 



I. FARM MANAGEMENT 



574. Cardinal principles. In the preceding chapters more or 

 less has been said about the business aspects of farm practices, 

 but certain cardinal principles of farm management must be 

 recognized. The farm business must be large enough to uti- 

 lize profitably the different factors involved. Farm operations 

 must be diversified. Farm labor must be constantly and pro- 

 ductively employed. Farm products must be completely and 

 intelligently utilized. 



575. Size of the farm. Farm-management surveys show that 

 there is a definite relation between the size of the business and 

 the income ; also that there is a maximum-size business beyond 

 which profits decline in proportion to the increase. Considering 

 only those farmers who carry on a general type of mixed farm- 

 ing, probably the minimum size of a profitable farm is about 

 100 acres with a total investment of from $5000 to $7000. 

 The optimum size, or the size at which the business would be 

 most profitable, is probably from 240 to 320 acres, with a total 

 investment of from $ 1 5,000 to $25,000. A much larger business 

 may be profitable in special cases, but more than average business 

 ability is required to operate successfully the larger enterprises. 



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