416 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



amounted to $406 more than the interest on the farmer's net 

 worth, the proprietor of Tarpleywick Farm was $1202.47 better 

 off at the end than at the beginning of the year. This state- 

 ment gives courage for another year and a copy of this summary 

 statement put in the hands of the banker will give basis for a 

 better line of credit. 



Farm crop accounts. The farmer has many lines of produc- 

 tion from which to choose. The problem of choosing the crops 

 which will yield maximum results can be solved only by a careful 

 study of the conditions which determine the character of farm 

 organization. As a rule the farmer does not confine himself 

 to one crop but combines a number of crops, for example, corn, 

 oats, and hay into one system of crop rotation. The farmer's 

 business problem, so far as crop selection is concerned, is that of 

 selecting from each group of competing crops the one which 

 will pay best and combining as many non-competing crops as 

 can be made to add to the profits of the farm. One who has 

 grown the various crops can usually classify them with reason- 

 able accuracy into conflicting and non-conflicting groups. 

 For example, in southern Wisconsin every farmer knows that 

 corn, tobacco, sugar beets, and potatoes conflict with each 

 other, but the question of which of these crops will pay the 

 farmer best is usually not so clearly in mind. There are those 

 who compare profits per acre and forget that one can plant 

 and care for three or four times as many acres of one crop as 

 of another. 



The most accurate method of comparing profits is to keep cost 

 accounts, which will show the amount of labor and other expenses 

 laid out on each crop and the returns secured. 



The accompanying summary of results of a cost account will 

 help one in understanding the way in which cost accounts aid 

 in the selection of crops. 



This table shows the relative profitableness of the crops which 

 have been tried on Tarpleywick Farm. In this case the oats paid 

 better than the barley, although the income or gross returns per 

 acre were nearly the same, the expense in preparing the barley 

 land was greater ; hence the profits were smaller. 



