26 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FARM MANAGEMENT AND FARM ECONOMICS. 



Until comparatively recently studies in farm economics were neg- 

 lected. In the last 10 or 15 years it has come to be recognized that 

 the prosperity of the farmer depends as much upon good business 

 methods as upon his practices in plant culture and animal husbandry. 

 In 1906 the Department of Agriculture inaugurated investigations in 

 farm management, which remained in the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 until 1915, when the Office of Farm Management was established as 

 a branch of the Office of the Secretary. During the latter part of 

 the calendar year 1918 steps were taken to reorganize the work. At 

 my request, a committee composed of recognized authorities on farm 

 management and agricultural economics made a thorough study of 

 the activities of the office, not only with a view to enlarge the scope 

 and increase the efficiency of the work but also to outline definite 

 methods of procedure to be followed in the study of farm-manage- 

 ment problems, and especially the cost of producing agricultural 

 products. The members of this committee were: G. F. Warren, 

 professor of agricultural economics and farm management, State 

 College of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Andrew Boss, chief of the 

 division of agronomy and farm management. State College of 

 Agriculture, St. Paul, Minn.; H. C. Taylor, head of the department 

 of agricultural economics. College of Agriculture of the University 

 of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.; J. A. Foord, professor of farm man- 

 agement. State College of Agriculture, Amherst, Mass.; J. I. Fal- 

 coner, professor of rural economics, State College of Agriculture, 

 Columbus, Ohio ; K. L. Adams, professor of agronomy. State College 

 of xigriculture, Berkeley, Calif.; and G. I. Christie, Assistant Sec- 

 retary of Agriculture and Director of Extension in Indiana. 



This committee submitted a report to me, which I approved 

 and which has been published as Circular No. 132 of the Office 

 of the Secretary. It not only outlined the field of work of the 

 Office of Farm Management but also recommended that its name 

 be changed to Bureau of Farm Management and Farm Economics, 

 and that the investigations conducted by it be carried on in close 

 cooperation with the agricultural colleges and experiment stations 

 in order to prevent duplication of effort, to promote the devel- 

 opment of farm management activities in the various States, and 



