586 



READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



22 44 



79 



126 



ACRES 



177 



281 



Relation of size of farm to labor income on 1988 farms. With a small area 

 additional acres increase the labor income very rapidly, but with over 177 acres 

 additional land is not so important. Another 100 acres added to a farm of 79 

 acres increases the labor income by nearly $400, but a second 100 acres further 

 increases it by only a little over $200 



that he ran in addition to hauling milk every day in the year. 

 His labor income was 1^1042. Most of his money came from 

 hauling milk. Another made a labor income of ;^i05i from a 

 40-acre farm by retailing milk. The fourth made ;^ii59 from 

 a 50-acre general farm. He had a good crop of cabbage, which 

 sold for $22 per ton. It will be seen that each of these had 

 unusual conditions. 



Of the farms of less than 30 acres, only 2 made over ;^5oo, 

 but 68 per cent of the farms of over 200 acres made more than 

 this amount and 24 per cent made over ;^iooo. The average for 

 the farms of over 200 acres was ;$995. 



The results given in Table 6 are shown in the diagram above. 

 This shows how rapidly the labor income increases with the 

 size of farm. The shape of the curve also shows that additional 

 area is of great importance up to 177 acres, but that after this 

 it is of less importance. Adding 100 acres to a 177-acre farm 



