FACTORS OF SUCCESS IN FARMING 605 



spend a little more for fertilizer, but even those who got the 

 best crops spent an average of only 60 cents per acre of crops 

 in Livingston County and 26 cents in Jefferson County. The 

 farmers with the best crop yields kept somewhat more live-stock 

 than did those with the poorer yields. The farms that gave the 

 best crop yields had an animal unit for each 3,4 acres of crops 

 in Livingston County, and one for each 2.2 acres of crops in 

 Jefferson County. The percentage of receipts from cash crops 

 was about the same in each group. The better crops enable the 

 farmers to keep more live-stock and yet sell as large a propor- 

 tion of cash crops as are sold on the farms with poorer yields. 

 In Livingston County the receipts per cow had no relationship to 

 the crop yields. In Jefferson County the returns per cow were a 

 little better on the farms that got the best crops. The amount 

 of work accomplished per man or horse is just the same on the 

 farms getting good crops as on those getting poor crops. The 

 good crops do not come from working fewer acres per man 

 or horse. 



Comparative influence of crop yields and size of farm on profits. 

 Crop yields are a very important factor affecting profits, but their 

 importance has often been over-emphasized. Yields are only one 

 of the limiting factors. Unfortunately the almost universal method 

 of emphasizing the importance of yields is to disparage the im- 

 portance of number of acres. The size of business is fully as 

 important as yields. It is not necessary to deny the importance 

 of either one in order to prove the importance of the other. One 

 of the oft-quoted axioms that is about as misleading as most 

 axioms is that the farmer should " farm fewer acres and do it 

 better." We have already seen that the larger farms raise crops 

 as good as the small ones. There is no necessity for reducing 

 the size of farm below the area that is adapted to modern ma- 

 chinery in order to raise better crops. The advice to farm better 

 is good, but it is a mistake to assume that this calls for fewer 

 acres. 



Table 1 8 shows in a most striking way the combined influence 

 of size of farm and crop yields. With any given size of farm, 

 the labor incomes increase very rapidly as crop yields increase. 



