THE SIZE OF FARMS 1 57 



unit of organization. The large area demanded per man gives 

 rise to two conditions which point toward the economy of a 

 relatively small unit of organization when compared with many 

 lines of manufacture. The distance which workmen must 

 travel in going to and from their work is against large farms. 

 The time required in going to and coming from the fields is 

 subtracted from the time devoted to the field work. ■• Further- 

 more, the fact that the work is spread over a wide area makes 

 close supervision of the workmen impracticable. Every 

 workman on a farm must be interested and largely self-direc- 

 tive in carrying out the day's work if the farm is to prove 

 profitable. This has resulted in the major portion of the work 

 on most farms being done by the farmer and his family. 



It has been said, " The typical American farm is a family- 

 farm." Limiting this statement to America is unnecessary. 

 The statement is equally true of France and of Germany. If 

 the farms of the whole world were considered, it would still 

 be true that the typical farm is a family-farm. The world over, 

 farming is very generally organized in accordance with what 

 has been called the " domestic system " in industry. There 

 has been talk about the " factory farm " and corporation farm- 

 ing, but nothing of general economic importance has been 

 developed along this line. The family-farm is, for the present 

 at least, the farm to keep in mind in studying the economic 

 problems of the farm manager. Hence the working force of 

 the family is an important consideration in deciding upon the 

 proper size of farm for a given farmer. 



The fact that adding to the size of the farm adds to the work 

 in the home and detracts from the pleasure of living, tends 

 to limit the size of farms. The farmer considers the extra 

 work for his wife involved in taking an extra man into the 

 home. The writer uses the word " home " advisedly. The 

 hired man is not satisfied simply to eat and sleep in the house. 

 He expects to be made to feel at home, and if he does not feel 

 at home, he will move along and try another place. The 

 farmer and his hired man work side by side in the field, and 

 in the barn ; they sit side by side at the table, and it is per- 



