SIZE OF FARM 



Forty acres devoted to truck farming or 

 market gardening may be sufficient. 



There is another way that the size of the 

 farm needed may be estimated. There is a 

 general relation between the gross income 

 and the amount invested. In 1900 the gross 

 income of the farms of the United States 

 was 1 8 per cent of the total investment, 

 which includes land, buildings, tools, and 

 live stock. The average gross income varied 

 for the different types of farming common 

 to the northern United States from 16 to 19 

 per cent. This represents, of course, a great 

 deal of very poor farming. The income of 

 prosperous farmers must be somewhat better 

 than this. If we assume that by careful 

 methods the gross income is 25% of the total 

 investment, then an investment of $16,000 

 will be required to bring a gross income of 

 $4,000. While it is true that the gross in- 

 come has no necessary relation to net in- 

 come or profit, yet it is well to remember 

 that a gross income is a necessary antecedent 

 of a net income. The net profit from the 

 production of a bushel of wheat, a dozen of 



