THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 215 



with experience, scientific knowledge of plant and animal 

 production, manual and mechanical skill, and hard work 

 are the requirements for a successful farmer. 



The farmer's labor income. Labor incomes of farmers 

 are not usually large, but they are measures of the farm's 

 efficiency. Studies have been iriade of farm incomes over 

 various parts of the country, and in the best regions the 

 farmer's labor income rarely averages over $600. Besides 

 this, the farmer makes interest on his capital, and has a 

 house and farm products in addition. 



Some thoughts for the farm boy. Of course not every 

 farm boy should choose farming as a vocation, but every 

 boy should think twice before deciding to leave the farm. 

 The farm boy has a good training for agriculture, and many 

 a city youth envies this opportunity to choose an agricultural 

 career. High salaries paid in cities are misleading, and, 

 when the cost of living is taken into account, the salaries 

 often dwindle to low figures. Farming is not easy work, but 

 it assures a competence, a freedom from economic disturb- 

 ances, a healthful life, and an opportunity to enjoy all that 

 is best in the world. If one is to be a farmer of the twen- 

 tieth century, he should prepare for the business. An agri- 

 cultural education given in a good four-year high-school 

 course or in a good agricultural college is desirable in pre- 

 paring a young man for the business of farming as it will 

 be carried on in the next decade. 



Some problems in farm management. It is not the pur- 

 pose of this brief course to teach much about farm business. 

 Merely to introduce the student to some of the problems 



