134 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



$19,728. Their average area was 257 acres, of which 154 acres 

 were in harvested crops. These farms kept an average of 32 cows, 

 besides young stock. These large profitable farms employed an 

 average of 3.2 men, or a little over two men besides the farmer. 

 With this amount of help, the stock was cared for and, in addi- 

 tion, enough cash crops were raised so that over one third of the 

 income came from the sale of crops. The crops sold for enough 

 to pay the entire feed bill and have left an average of $1553 per 

 farm. For a business of this size, inexperienced persons often 

 employ two or three times as many men. 



Farming a slow business. The returns from money invested in 

 farming are very slow compared with most enterprises. Farming | 

 is a family business. The returns from some investments do not ^ 

 even come in the farmer's lifetime ; they are made for his sons. 



Farming is not a factory process. It depends on living things. 

 Many of these things cannot be hurried. If one starts to improve 

 his soil, he will not get far until he has carried out one full rota- 

 tion. This usually takes six years on the dairy or live-stock farms. 

 At least a second rotation must be carried out before the full 

 returns come in. The successful live-stock breeder takes time. 

 The favorite cow may persist in raising bull calves, so that the 

 herd is not soon replaced by her daughters. An investment in 

 tile drains is a good thing for many farms, but we do not expect 

 the drains to be paid for at once. 



The man who plants an apple orchard has a long-time invest- 

 ment. Orchard surveys of four counties published by this station 

 indicate that the average apple orchard does not yield much until it 

 is over twenty years old. The maximum production is reached at 

 forty to fifty years of age. There are varieties that bear younger, but 

 they also die younger. The old standards, such as the Baldwin, 

 are long-lived trees that have a long youth as well as a long life. 



So it is with nearly all the best farm investments. Returns 

 come slowly. Many an amateur at farming starts out with too 

 rosy views and becomes discouraged at the expense and time 

 before things have had a chance to pay. 



Cost of living on farms. Approximately half of the food of 

 farm families is furnished by the farm at a cost much below 



