PLANNING THE FARM 97 



improvements, space should be allotted in a suitable loca- 

 tion for buildings and yards for the stock and for build- 

 ings for the storage of feedstuffs. 



The general plan should be so made that the stock 

 barns and yards may be directly connected by lanes with 

 the various fields of the farm. If stock farming or 

 mixed farming is not to be at once entered upon, the 

 ultimate plan need not at first be wholly developed. 

 Specialized forms of farm management need the farm- 

 stead and fields arranged to suit specific purposes. Most 

 farmers, however, are devoted to general farming, with 

 which are dovetailed the production of crops to be sold 

 for money, of forage and grain to be fed to stock, of 

 animals which are reared for sale or for use on the farm 

 for work, for the dairy, or for meat or wool products. 

 Poultry and crops raised for family use, as garden and 

 fruit, are also important products of nearly all well- 

 regulated farms, whether highly specialized or quite 

 general in the nature of crops produced for the market, 

 and space in suitable locations should be given them. 



In planning a farm the entire business, including the 

 lines of production, should be decided upon. In only 

 rare cases is it well to limit the production of marketable 

 products to a single line. On the other hand, it is un- 

 wise to attempt too many lines. Two to four main lines 

 are usually more profitable than one or many. The ad- 

 vantage of having a few lines rather than one are numer- 

 ous. The available labor can be more economically 

 used, as one crop will need attention at one season of 

 the year, and another at a different time. Live stock 

 require most labor in the winter, when other farm enter- 

 prises demand least, and thus aid in economically utiliz- 

 ing labor the year round. 



A combination of specialties may be selected which, 

 will thus furnish labor profitable employment at all sea- 

 sons of the year. A few lines can be so mastered that 



