No. 4.] FARM MANAGEMENT. 61 



It is not always possible for a farmer to enlarge his business 

 by investing more capital until it shall have reached the opti- 

 mum size. He can, however, quite often rent additional land. 

 In many parts of the United States the figure paid for land 

 rental, either in cash or in part of the crops, amounts to con- 

 siderably less than a normal interest charge. A study of three 

 groups of tenant farms located in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa 

 showed that the tenants paid on the average a rental equiva- 

 lent to only 3.5 per cent of the value of the farm. A farmer 

 with restricted means, therefore, under such circumstances 

 need not worry about the inability to purchase when he can 

 rent more cheaply than own. 



The diversity of enterprises making up the farm unit shows 

 an important relation to profit. The successful farm usually 

 has from three to five important sources of income. There are 

 some extraordinary circumstances under which a farmer may 

 find it more profitable to raise only a single crop, and even to 

 buy feed to supply his live stock, than to engage in diversified 

 farming. These conditions are exceptional, however, and such 

 a farm is always subject to disaster through the failing of that 

 single crop, as well as through failure of market conditions. 

 And, furthermore, no single cropping system offers the oppor- 

 tunity for continuous employment throughout the year, while 

 with diversified agriculture the leaks caused by idle seasons 

 can be largely overcome. 



Live stock on a farm usually helps greatly in furnishing con- 

 tinuous employment. Live stock is primarily a method the 

 farmer employs of marketing his produce, and the live-stock 

 yield must be equivalent to the market price of the feed or a loss 

 is occasioned; but if live stock yields even a small margin over 

 current prices of feed, yet the labor employed in caring for the 

 stock would be otherwise idle, then the industry becomes 

 highly desirable and contributes to the profit of the farm. 



The factor of profitable farming which has probably hereto- 

 fore received more attention than any other has been what 

 might be termed efficiency, that is, the yield of crops and pro- 

 duction per animal. As a rule, crop yields for a community 

 are considerably below what would be the most profitable, and 

 production per animal is decidedly below what has been shown^ 



