ORGANIZATION OF THE FARM 



vert them into animal products presents itself 

 in practically the same form as that of selecting 

 crops for the field-system. The general principle 

 is simple, seek the largest long-time-average net 

 profit, but the practical application of this prin- 

 ciple is especially difficult, because of the limited 

 extent to which these two lines of work come into 

 conflict with each other. It can be said, how- 

 ever, that the live stock industry should enable the 

 farmer to win as large a net profit as he could se- 

 cure from other sources, and enough more to make 

 worth while the extra effort put forth when he 

 could have found employment in no other line of 

 productive activity, but which time might have 

 been spent in enjoying the products of his labor 

 or in improving his mind. 



The problem of deciding upon the kinds of live 

 stock to be kept should be solved by the principle 

 which has already been discussed under the head 

 of crop competition. It is perhaps true that per- 

 sonal likes and dislikes -enter more largely into the 

 situation here than in the selection of crops, but 

 having taken this element into account, the vari- 

 ous branches of live stock production may be 

 classified according to whether they are more or 

 less competitive with or supplementary to each 

 other and with the field crops, in their demands 

 upon the time and energy of the farmer, and then 

 the selection should be made on the basis of the 

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